LIBRARY 

BUREAU OF EDUCATION 




/■ IV ^■ 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION 
IN NORTH CAROLINA 



BY 



EDGAR W. KNIGHT, Ph.D. 

Professor of Education in Trinity College (North Carolina) 

Author of 

" JTie Influence of Reconstruction on Education in the South,^^ 

" Some Principles of Teaching,''^ etc. 





OCT glM916 



^i^-^e; 



BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 



lJ\^^o 



COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY EDGAR W. KNIGHT 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
U . S . A 



T- 



■^ 



TO 



MY MOTHER AND MY FATHER 



PREFACE 

That the history of education, as a subject which con- 
tributes to the professional training and equipment of 
teachers, has been on trial for its life, no serious student 
of the subject will undertake to deny. Some of the 
charges made against it have been grave enough to cause 
the real services of the subject to be honestly questioned 
by many of its ardent students and supporters. In fact, 
the conviction has grown in recent years, even among 
those engaged in the professional preparation of teach- 
ers, that the history of educational theory and practice 
needed to justify itself. As a result, its place in the cur- 
riculum of institutions devoted to the training of teach- 
ers has been challenged by subjects of a character more 
popularly accepted as utilitarian and immediately use- 
ful as pedagogical tools. 

But the critics have served a useful purpose, and their 
charges against the history of education have tended to 
strengthen its cause and to increase its champions. In 
this respect its career bears a striking likeness to that of 
general history, which likewise tardily found a place in 
the curriculum. The more remote its interests and the 
more encyclopaedic its completeness, the more worthy 
history was once esteemed, not so much for its practical 
value in interpreting present-day conditions and tenden- 
cies as for its alluring and fascinating character. For 
generations the results were far from v/holesome and 
safe. To-day, however, the historical point of view is 



vi PREFACE 

becoming more and more rationalized, narrowness and 
provincialism are decreasing, and a keener and more 
lively interest in human affairs is steadily developing. 

A similar reform has been demanded of the history 
of education. In this subject a student might become 
an able expositor of the educational theories of Plato, 
Aristotle, Rabelais, Herbart, and Spencer, and discuss 
creditably the principal features of ancient school 
systems, without being able to recognize tendencies in 
modern education, detect an educational fad, or ex- 
plain the manner of raising school finances or of electing 
local school officers. Gradually, therefore, it has become 
necessary to present the subject so as to impel a more 
complete analysis of modern educational problems and a 
clearer and more rational understanding of those prac- 
tices with which the teachers themselves are constantly 
concerned. 

In this conception of the value of the subject may be 
found the chief purpose of this book. The author be- 
lieves that a study of the educational conditions of the 
past, which are often in striking contrast to present 
conditions, will help teachers and educational adminis- 
trators to a more satisfactory understanding of the pres- 
ent situation, and assist in breaking up a complacent 
acceptance of those practices which are more traditional 
than rational. This report of public educational prog- 
ress in North Carolina has been prepared in the hope 
that it may be of real service to teachers, on whom the 
burden of educational advancement so largely rests, and 
to whom every possible encouragement, inspiration, and 
support should be given in their work of disseminating 
intelhgence. 

The author has undertaken to include in the book 



PREFACE vii 

historical material sufficient to aid the reader and stu- 
dent to draw correct conclusions concerning the subject. 
An effort has also been made to make clear the relation 
between social and economic forces and educational de- 
velopment; to show how the ideals of a people are re- 
flected in their school system; and to suggest relations 
between present educational problems and current ed- 
ucational practices so many of which have been tradi- 
tionally received. There would be less excuse for such a 
book if there were already accessible to teachers and the 
general reader any complete story of public education in 
the State. Parts of two chapters were first published in 
the South Atlantic Quarterly and in the North Carolina 
Booklet and are here included through the courtesy of 
the editors of those publications. In order that the en- 
tire work may later be relieved of its inaccuracies the 
author will welcome any criticisms concerning it. 

To my colleagues and former teachers, Professor 
Eugene C. Brooks, of the Department of Education, and 
Professor William K. Boyd, of the Department of His- 
tory, in Trinity College, I am especially indebted; to the 
former for first stimulating my interest in educational 
history, and to the latter for arousing my interest in 
North Carolina and Southern history, and to both for 
constant encouragement and advice and for sympathetic 
interest and assistance in the present work, I also ac- 
knowledge my indebtedness to my former teacher. 
Professor Paul Monroe, of Columbia University, whose 
scholarly advice has all along encouraged my historical 
and educational studies. To Dr. James Y. Joyner, state 
superintendent of public instruction, I am indebted for 
the concluding chapter and for his kindly interest in the 
entire book. I am also indebted to Professor N. W. 



viii PREFACE 

Walker, state inspector of high schools and Professor of 
Secondary Education in the University of North Caro- 
lina, for suggestions concerning, and assistance in the 
treatment of, secondary education, in Chapter XVI, 
and for reading apart of the proof; to Mr. E. E. Sams, 
state supervisor of teacher-training. Professor L. A. 
Williams, of the University of North Carolina, Pro- 
fessor C. W. Wilson, of the East Carolina Teachers' 
Training School, and Superintendent Samuel B. Under- 
wood, of the Pitt County Schools, I am indebted for 
examining the manuscript and for making helpful sug- 
gestions. To my wife, Annie Turner Knight, I am in- 
debted for assistance in reading the proof and in the 
preparation of the index. 

Edgar W. Knight. 

Trinity College 

Durham. North Carolina 

August, 1916 



CONTENTS 

I. Under the Lords Proprietors .... 1 

II. The Apprenticeship System 14 

III Under Royal Rule 32 

IV. The Academy Movement 44 

V. The Early Agitation (1776-1825) ... 63 

VI. The Literary Fund 84 

VII. Growth of Educational Sentiment (1825- 

1837) 113 

VIII. The Beginnings of Public Education (1838- 

1852) _ . 138 

IX. The Educational Revival under Wiley (1853- 

1865) 158 

X. Ante-Bellum Educational Practice . .192 
XL The Beginnings of Reconstruction . . 212 
XII. Education during Reconstruction . . . 238 
Xin. The Work and Influence of the Peabody 

Fund 271 

XIV. Attempts at Readjustment (1877-1900) . . 294 
XV. Aycock and the Revival (1900-1910) . . 329 
XVL The Present System : Its Tasks and Tenden- 
cies 345 

XVII. What of the Future.? 368 

Index 375 



PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION IN 
NORTH CAROLINA 

CHAPTER I 

UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 

Although North Carolina developed before 1860 the 
most creditable system of public education to be found 
in any of the States which seceded from the Union, her 
intellectual and educational growth was very slow dur- 
ing the colonial period. This slowness was due to the 
conditions under which the colony was settled — condi- 
tions which naturally lent themselves very sparingly to 
educational enterprises. Especially is this true of the 
period from 1663, when settlements first began to be 
made in the region around Albemarle Sound, to 1728, 
when the transfer from proprietary to royal ownership 
of the colony was made. 

The earliest settlers in North Carolina migrated from 
the northern colony of Virginia from 1650 to 1675, not 
as religious refugees, but principally for economic ad- 
vantage. After 1663, however, when the intolerant and 
illegal government of Berkeley in Virginia was resisted 
by Bacon's rebellion, some came for political reasons, 
and North Carolina soon found herself accommodating 
"rogues, runaways, and rebels" who refused to tolerate 
Berkeley and his tyranny. But the colony grew exceed- 
ingly slowly, although in 1670 immigrants were encour- 



2 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

aged by the promise of the Assembly of exemption from 
taxation for one year and protection for five years from 
suits for debts made before coming into the colony. 
Even these attractions, however, induced but few. 
When William Drummond was appointed the first 
"governor of Albemarle," in 1663, his commission ex- 
tended over sixteen hundred square miles of territory 
which was so sparsely settled that there were perhaps 
not more than fifteen hundred people in the entire settle- 
ment. In 1675 there were probably four thousand peo- 
ple in the colony, less than three to a square mile. In 
1728 the entire population was not more than ten thou- 
sand. Immigration before 1728, therefore, must have 
been very slight.^ 

This slow growth of population is but one explanation 
of the colony's slow educational development. From the 
beginning of the colony the tendency was necessarily 
toward rural rather than urban communities, the mild 
climate and the fertile soil both contributing to a stimu- 
lation of rural life. The earliest settlers took up large 
tracts of land on the water-courses, which furnished 
practically the only means of communication, and agri- 
culture soon became the most promising pursuit of the 
colonists. The dangerous coasts and poor harbors made 
the colony difficult of access and retarded the commer- 
cial interests of the people. Moreover, there were fre- 
quent complaints against the unsatisfactory govern- 
ment, and conflicts between the inhabitants and the 
proprietors, or their representatives, " who reckoned the 
lives of the colonists only in quitrents and taxes." Occa- 
sional religious dissensions and a scarcity of teachers 

1 Weeks, Libraries and Literature in North Carolina in the Eighteenth 
Century, in House Documents, vol. 62. 



UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 3 

may also be noted as other conditions unfavorable to 
educational and intellectual activity. 

Likewise, the need for schools and education was not 
keenly felt by those in authority. The educational phil- 
osophy of seventeenth-century England, "that the great 
body of the people were to obey and not to govern, and 
that the social status of unborn generations was already 
fixed," was now, as at a later time, widespread and per- 
sistent. This was the philosophy, not only for the colo- 
nies, but for the mother country as well. As late as the 
beginning of the nineteenth century it was held by many 
that the surest way to serve the public welfare was by 
keeping great numbers of the people "ignorant as well 
as poor. Knowledge both enlarges and multiplies our 
desires, and the few things man wishes for, the more 
easily his necessity may be supplied." ^ This is an argu- 
ment which has been frequently used to defeat universal 
public education. 2 

A few teachers gradually found their way into the 
colony, however. The first of these were the lay readers 
appointed in the churches built by the early settlers. In 
the charter which granted Carolina to Robert Heath in 
1629, provisions were made for the establishment of a 
State Church, and these provisions were continued in 
the charters to the lords proprietors in 1663 and 1665. 
The first practical effort to build up a State Church in 
the colony came with the Vestry Act of 1701. The first 
preacher of the English Church arrived about 1703 and 
the first churches were built a few years later. By the 
Vestry Act of 1715 the colony was divided into nine 
parishes and vestrymen were appointed in each. Provi- 

* See p. 68, note. 

' Adams, History of the Elementary School Contest in England, p. 46. 



4 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

sion was made for the purchase of glebe lands, for the 
employment and support of ministers, and for general 
church organization. 

Brickell, writing of North Carolina in the early eight- 
eenth century, said: — 

The religion by law established is the Protestant, as it is 
professed in England, and though they seldom have orthodox 
clergymen among them, yet there are not only glebe lands laid 
out for that use commodious to each town, but likewise for 
building churches. The want of these Protestant clergy is 
generally supplied by some schoolmasters who read the Lit- 
urgy, and then a sermon out of Dr. Tillotson or some good 
practical divine every Sunday. These are the most numerous 
and are dispersed through the whole province.^ 

But this establishment of the English Church was not 
altogether an advantage to education, even though per- 
haps many if not all of the schoolmasters in the colony 
were its missionaries, ministers, or lay readers. Dissen- 
ters, especially Baptists and Quakers, were numerous in 
the colony and sternly opposed the regulations of the 
establishment. The troubles which naturally arose re- 
sulted in a lack of union in educational ideals and prac- 
tices. After the transfer to royal control in 1729, the 
instructions to the governors, beginning with George 
Burrington in 1730 and continuing for many years, 
proved retarding to educational development. By these 
instructions North Carolina, already under the ecclesias- 
tical control of the English Church, was seriously ham- 
pered in the case of school-teachers : — 

And we do further direct that no Schoolmaster be hence- 
forth permitted to come from the Kingdom and to keep school 
in that our said Province without the license of the Lord 

* Natural History of North Carolina, p. 35. 



UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 5 

Bishop of London, and that no other person now there or that 
shall come from other parts shall be admitted to keep school 
in North Carolina without your license first obtained.^ 

These instructions to Burrington practically repro- 
duced that tyrannical measure known as the English 
Schism Act of 1714, which deprived dissenters of the 
means of providing educational facilities for their own 
children. By it no one was allowed to teach in a public 
or private school or to give instruction in any form with- 
out first securing the privilege from the Bishop of Lon- 
don. This reproduced Schism Act seems to have been 
enforced in the colony at least three times after it was 
repealed in England, in a school at Newbern in 1766, at 
Edenton in 1768, and in the case of Queen's Museum, at 
Charlotte, in 1773. The repeal of the act in England 

only makes its reenactment for the colony the more exasper- 
ating. School-teachers were few enough in North Carolina 
during the whole period of its colonial existence. Of those who 
did appear, some, no doubt, were dissenters; but with fiendish 
atrocity the English Government closes to them the avenue to 
greater usefulness. This is the greeting which the royal gov- 
ernment sends out to the daughter rejoicing in her recent 
escape from the rule of the proprietors. This was the precious 
heritage with which the first royal governor comes out to meet 
the subjects who had thrown off the rule of the proprietors and 
claimed the king's protection. It seemed that the new govern- 
ment was to be worse than the old, for the royal government 
now took the lead in ecclesiastical legislation and had, unfortu- 
nately, a large following in the colony. ^ 

In spite of the ecclesiastical evils which followed the 
establishment of the English Church in North Carolina, 
however, the intellectual and educational life of the col- 

1 Col. Rec, vol. Ill, pp. 110, 111. 

* Weeks, Church and State in North Carolina, pp. 24, 25. 



6 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

ony was somewhat encouraged and assisted by it. Al- 
most simultaneously with its establishment, the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts began 
its educational labors in the colony. This organization 
was one of the most prominent of the charitable and 
religious agencies which assisted education in most of the 
English colonies. It was formed in London by royal 
charter in 1701 to aid the Established Church in its 
colonial possessions, in supplying better-trained minis- 
ters, in establishing and reviving churches, and in train- 
ing children in church doctrine as well as in other sub- 
jects. The membership of the organization was made 
up largely of prelates, the clergy, and the more influen- 
tial laity. Funds for its maintenance and work were 
secured by subscriptions, bequests, donations, royal 
benefactions, and frequent church contributions. From 
1701 to 1780 the Society spent more than £230,000 in 
its work in the colonies of America. Of the Southern 
colonies. South Carolina received the greatest attention. 
The missionaries of the Society "brought with them 
the first parish or public libraries and its lay readers were 
the first teachers." Charles GriflBn, who in 1705 came 
from the West Indies and settled in Pasquotank, is said 
to have been the first professional teacher in the colony. 
Here he taught school three years and with such success 
that even the Quakers patronized him. In 1708 his 
school was transferred to a missionary of the Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the 
Reverend James Adams, who had settled in that com- 
munity. Griffin later went to Chowan, where he became 
reader of the vestry, and conducted a school for one 
year. In 1709 he became a Quaker. Ten years later he 
probably taught a school for Indians in Christina, Vir- 



UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 7 

ginia, and later still he probably became a professor in 
William and Mary College.^ 

A few others were also engaged in teaching in the 
colony during the proprietary period. One of these, 
Mashburn by name, had a school at Sarum near the 
Virginia border in 1712, and his work was so well 
thought of that he deserved compensation by the So- 
ciety. "What children he has under his care can both 
write and read very distinctly," wrote the Reverend 
Giles Rainsford, "and gave before me such an account 
of the grounds and principles of the Christian religion 
that it strangely surprised me to hear it." Rainsford 
believed that Mashburn's work should be encouraged. 

Not only did the Society furnish teachers, but its 
missionaries gave books for the use of the pupils and also 
established parish or public libraries. The first of these 
public libraries was made possible by the Reverend 
Thomas Bray, founder and one of the leaders of the 
Society, and later the Bishop of London's commissary 
in Maryland. He came to America in March, 1700. The 
establishment of libraries soon became a part of his 
larger scheme of educational and religious activity in the 
colonies, and during his work here he helped to establish 
thirty-nine or more, many of them with more than one 
thousand volumes. 

The only library which Dr. Bray gave to North Caro- 
lina was established in Bath, which was made a town- 
ship about 1705. Here it seems not to have been prop- 
erly cared for and used, and in 1712 the Reverend Giles 
Rainsford said that the books were lost "by those 
wretches that do not consider the benefit of so valuable 

1 Weeks, Libraries and Literature in North C<irolina, in House Doc- 
uments, vol. 62, p. 175, note. 



8 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

a gift"; and two years later John Urmstone, that quar- 
relsome, haughty, and notoriously wicked clergyman of 
the English Church whose career in the colony was a 
constant reproach, stated that the "famous library sent 
in by Dr. Bray's directions is, in a great measure, de- 
stroyed. I am told the books are all unbound and have 
served for some time as waste paper." 

Urmstone's statements are probably incorrect, how- 
ever, because in 1715 there was passed the only act dur- 
ing the proprietary period which looked to an encourage- 
ment of literature, and this looked to the preservation of 
the library. This law is very similar to one passed on the 
same subject in South Carolina in 1700, concerning 
which Dr. Weeks says: "Is it not possible that a draft of 
the act was sent over with the books, filled out in the 
province, and passed in each near the same time? I am 
inclined to think that the North Carolina act was several 
years old in 1715." ^ 

Fear that the books of the library "will quickly be 
embezzled, damaged, or lost" led to the passage of the 
law "for the more effectual preservation of the same." 
By this act provision was made for the appointment of a 
librarian who was to become responsible for the books, 
and be "bound and obliged to keep and preserve the 
several and respective books therein, from waste, dam- 
age, embezzlement, and all other destruction," and to 
give for them two receipts, one to the library commis- 
sioners and one to the church wardens. The library was 
not to be moved from Bath. Books could be borrowed 
by giving a receipt for them, "with a promise to return 
the said book or books, if a folio, in four months' time; 

* Libraries and Literature in North Carolina, in House Documents, 
vol. 62, pp. 179, 180, and note. 



UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 9 

if a quarto, in two months' time; if an octavo, or under, 
in one month's time; upon penalty of paying three times 
the value of the said book or books so borrowed, in case 
of failure in returning the same." Catalogues of all the 
books were to be made, and the commissioners every 
Easter Monday were to examine the catalogues to see 
that no books were lost. 

What the library contained, who the librarians were, 
how extensively the books were used, and what disposi- 
tion was finally made of them are questions about which 
little or nothing is known. With the exception of the law 
of 1715 there is no further record of the library. One 
view held is that the books finally came into the hands 
of Edward Moseley and were the same as those he gave 
to Eden ton eight years later. ^ 

There were a few other parish libraries in the colony 
before 1729, the end of proprietary control. All the mis- 
sionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel had books which were not only of service to them, 
but were perhaps intended for a limited use among the 
people in educating them in the orthodox faith. Most 
of these books were religious and doctrinal. Among 
these missionaries whose supply of books was more or 
less adequate were the Reverends James Adams, Giles 
Rainsford, John Urmstone, Ebenezer Taylor, and Wil- 
liam Gordon. Through some of these men tracts were 
distributed and frequently "some books for the use of 
scholars." The missionaries occasionally received new 
supplies of books from the Society. Only a few books 
were sent over, however, during the closing years of 
proprietary control and but few during the early years of 
royal rule. During the middle and latter part of royal 
1 See p. 10. 



10 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

rule, however, new interest was taken in this phase of 
the work of the Society and many books were received 
in the colony. This part of the Society's activity must 
be highly praised, for through it opportunity was given 
to cultivate a taste for books and to foster an educa- 
tional sentiment which was beginning to show slight 
growth. 

The establishment of a library in Edenton by Edward 
Moseley, for nearly half a century the leading figure in 
the life of the colony, is one of the few notable efforts of 
the period to encourage education. In 1720 he sent some 
money to the secretary of the Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel with the instruction that it be spent 
for some useful books for use in Chowan, but the Society 
seems to have taken no notice of his request and the 
books were never received. Three years later he sent to 
the secretary a list of books which he had collected in 
America with the request that the Society accept them 
as the nucleus of a provincial library to be established 
in Edenton. The books, which were worth several hun- 
dred dollars, were mostly religious and scholastic and 
largely in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew. There were listed 
twenty-six folio volumes, twelve quarto volumes, and 
thirty-eight octavo volumes. There is no evidence that 
the Society ever accepted Moseley's gift, and the books 
probably remained in his private collection, which at his 
death in 1749 numbered four hundred volumes. Many 
of these were folios and bound in sheep. 

Perhaps the most complete and representative colo- 
nial library of North Carolina was the collection of 
Samuel Johnston (1733-1816), the beginning of which 
was made by Governor Eden (1673-1722), whose 
daughter, Penelope, married Governor Gabriel John- 



UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 11 

ston. At the death of Governor Johnston in 1752 the 
library passed to his nephew, Samuel. The collection, as 
made by Eden, Gabriel Johnston, and Samuel Johnston, 
consisted of history and politics, biography, travels, 
philosophy, the classics, science and medicine, law, do- 
mestic affairs and agriculture, theology and sermons, 
essays and miscellaneous literature, encyclopaedias, 
grammars, poetry and the drama — in all perhaps more 
than five hundred volumes. 

In the eastern part of the colony there were many 
other less important private libraries which are evidence 
of a degree of culture not often believed to have existed 
in North Carolina in the eighteenth century. This sec- 
tion of the colony was the first part to be settled and 
was more or less representative of English culture. The 
libraries of James Innes, of John Hodgson, James Ire- 
dell, William Hooper, Archibald Maclaine, Joseph Gah- 
tier, Willie Jones, of Halifax County, John Burgwin, 
William Cathcart, and others were more or less impor- 
tant, however, as reflecting educational conditions in the 
eastern and older section of the colony which was set- 
tled largely by the English. In the western section* 
where many Scotch and Scotch-Irish emigrated after 
1746, there was evidence also of intellectual activity. 
Libraries existed here as in the eastern section, and 
many of the settlers were educated and cultured. The 
influence of Princeton College, to be noted later, from 
which many preachers and teachers came, soon came to 
be extensive and powerful. Among those of this region 
who had valuable collections of books may be mentioned, 
Waightstill Avery, the Reverend David Caldwell, the 
Reverend James Hall, the Reverend John Barr, the 
founder of the Thyatira Circulating Library, Joseph 



L*- 



12 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Graham, the Reverend Henry Patillo, and others. 
Circulating Hbraries were founded in some of the 
counties and seem to have been extensively used.^ 

In the eastern section especially, the Established 
Church doubtless assisted somewhat in furnishing the 
few teachers who were at work before 1729. Through it 
and its adjunct organization, the Society for the Propa- 
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, books and tracts 
were distributed among the parishioners and furnished 
to the children. But the work of the Society was slight 
in North Carolina as compared with its achievements in 
the colony of South Carolina. More could perhaps have 
been accomplished in North Carolina if the reproduced 
Schism Act had not been applied and if the dissenters 
had not been unfortunately alienated. Little common 
religion resulted in lack of union in educational matters. 
Moreover, the people were not homogeneous and a long 
time was required to fuse the many diverse elements of 
the population. The well-to-do were provided for by a 
form of tutorial instruction, but schools and the means 
of education for the less fortunate classes were few. 
However, in spite of the conditions which retarded pub- 
lic schools for the masses, local efforts were occasionally 
made for a form of education which was more or less 
popular for many years. The chief of these efforts was 
that of the poor law and apprenticeship system, the 
operation of which will be considered in the following 
chapter. 

1 Weeks, Libraries and Literature in North Carolina. 



UNDER THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 13 



REFERENCES 

The Colonial Records of North Carolina; Brickell, A Natural 
History of North Carolina; Weeks, Church and State in North 
Carolina, Libraries and Literature in North Carolina in the 
Eighteenth Century, The Religious Development in the Province 
of North Carolina, and Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organi- 
zation of the Common Schools of North Carolina; Smith, History 
of Education in North Carolina; Kemp, The Support of Schools 
in Colonial New York by the S. P. G.; Lecky, History of England 
in the Eighteenth Century, vol. i; Hawks, History of North Caro- 
lina; Foote, Sketches of North Carolina; Cyclopedia of Educa- 
tion, edited by Paul Monroe, vol. n, article, "Colonial Period 
in American Education." 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What were some of the natural obstacles in the way of 
educational development in North Carolina during the 
early history of the colony.'' 

2. Compare the economic and social conditions of North 
Carolina with those of the New England colonies. 

3. Compare the early settlers of North Carolina with those 
of the other American colonies with respect to origin, 
religious and economic conditions. 

4. What was the condition of education in England when 
settlements began to be made in America.'' 

5. How did this condition affect the educational ideals and 
practices of the colonists? 

6. In what way did the Established Church aid education 
in North Carolina? In what way did it retard educational 
progress? 

7. What was the purpose of the Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts? 

8. Illustrate by the early history of North Carolina how 
educational conditions are the result of social and eco- 
nomic forces. 

9. How are the ideals of a people reflected in their educa- 
tional practices? 



CHAPTER II 

THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 

Just as our modem public-school system cannot be 
adequately understood except in the light of colonial 
conditions, so also must colonial custom and practice be 
explained in view of European antecedents. This ap- 
plies to education in all the EngUsh colonies, and es- 
pecially in Virginia and the Carolinas, where the general 
mental attitude toward education in colonial days was 
similar to that of the mother country. Here the English 
spirit was everywhere in evidence. The dominating in- 
fluences were here, as in England, more or less aristo- 
cratic; and these produced a tardiness and indifference 
to so-called popular education. In actual practice the 
tutor or the small school, or, as in not a few cases, edu- 
cation in England, was the rule of the well-to-do. The 
less prosperous classes were cared for educationally 
through poor-relief and apprenticeship laws after the 
manner of the mother country. A brief consideration 
of this practice is now in order. 

The poor-law and the apprenticeship system not only 
had their foundations in similar laws and practices in 
England, but in many cases the legislation was directly 
taken over, certainly adapted, from the principles found 
in the famous series of poor-reUef and apprenticeship 
statutes which developed in England during the second 
half of the sixteenth century.^ Legislation of this kind 

* " Be it therefore enacted by the authoritie of this Grand Assembly, 
according to the aforesayd laudable custom in the Kingdom of Eng- 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 15 

seemed necessary in order to take care of the gradually 
increasing dependent class, a group made up of journey- 
men, apprentices, vagrants, "thieves and sturdy beg- 
gars," whose wages, employment, or migration was in 
almost every case determined by some one of the upper 
classes of English population. Caring for this dependent 
element was an immense task. The suppression of Eng- 
lish monasteries by Henry VIII and Edward VI, on the 
alleged ground of negligence and certain forms of irre- 
ligion and immorality, destroyed many facilities and 
important agencies for poor relief and elementary edu- 
cation.^ Elizabeth undertook to make amends for these 
acts of destruction to monasteries and guilds, by a series 
of poor-relief and apprenticeship enactments which cul- 
minated in the oft-cited law of 1601, which remained in 
force in England until the early part of the nineteenth 
century.^ The execution and enforcement of these acts, 
however, were placed in the hands of local justices of the 
peace, who were country gentlemen. It should be noted 
at this point that many of the early colonists were of 
this class and were trained in the interpretation and 

land . . ." is now and then a part of the preamble of some of the early 
Virginia acts on which similar acts in the colony of North Carolina 
were based. The influence of the legislation in Virginia, based on the 
laws in England, is seen in North Carolina throughout the colonial 
period. 

^ Leach, English Schools at the Reformation. It is said that as many 
as one thousand foundations were destroyed — about ten million dol- 
lars in the present valuation. By the law of 1536 (27 Henry VIII, 
c. 28) all monasteries were to be "given to the King, which have not 
lands above 200^. by the year." By the law of 1546 (37 Henry VIII, 
c. 4) "all colleges, chantries, free chapels, etc., shall be in the King's 
Majesty's disposition." By the law of 1547 (1 Edward VI, c. 14) the 
statute of 37 Henry VIII was somewhat revised and reenacted. See 
English Statutes at Large, vols. 4 and 5. 

* 43 Elizabeth, c. 2. English Statutes at Large, vol. 7, pp. 30-87. 
This is the real statutory foundation of the poor law system. 



16 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

administration of these laws. This was especially true 
of Virginia, and the influence of that colony on North 
Carolina was far-reaching in the matter of the poor and 
apprenticeship system.^ 

By the law of 1601 the church wardens of every par- 
ish, and two, three, or four "substantial householders 
there," depending on the size of the parish, were to be 
nominated annually, at Easter or one month thereafter, 
by the justices of the peace, to be called "overseers of 
the poor." These officers were to give attention to 

setting to work the children of all such whose parents shall not 
... be thought able to maintain their children, . . . and also 
to raise weekly or otherwise (by taxation of every inhabitant, 
parson, vicar, and other, and of every occupier of lands, houses, 
tithes impropriate, propriations of tithes, coal mines, or sale- 
able underwoods in the said parish, in such competent sum or 
sums of money as they shall see fit) a convenient stock of flax, 
hemp, wool, thread, iron, and necessary ware and stuff, to set 
the poor to work : and also competent sums of money for . . . 
putting out of such children as apprentices, to be gathered out 
of the same parish, according to the ability of the same 
parish. . . . 

These overseers were to meet monthly on Sunday 
afternoon, after divine service, "to consider some good 
course to be taken." They were to give a true and per- 
fect account of all moneys received by them, or of all 
stock, and of "all the things concerning their said office." 
A penalty of twenty shillings was prescribed for every 
case of negligence or default on the part of the overseers, 
and imprisonment was prescribed for the overseers who 
refused "to account." Whenever the justices of the 
peace found that the inhabitants of any parish were 

^ An illuminating discussion of the English system of poor and ap- 
prenticeship laws may be had in Sir George Nicholls's A History of the 
English Poor-Law. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 17 

unable to relieve their poor, the justices were to "tax, 
rate, and assess as aforesaid," any other parishes in "the 
hundred where the said parish is." In case the hundred 
was not regarded as able to bear the tax, the justices, at 
their quarter sessions, were to rate and assess other par- 
ishes "within the said county" for the purpose of the 
law. Those people who refused to pay their assessment 
saw their property sold for the rate. 

Other duties of the church wardens and overseers of 
the poor were to bind as apprentices the children af- 
fected by this act, the males until they were twenty -four 
years of age, and the females until they were twenty -one, 
or until the time of their marriage; and to have houses 
built on "any waste or common" in the parish at the 
"general charges of the parish" as habitations for 
the poor. Powers similar to those given to justices of the 
peace were given to officers of towns and corporations. 
Justices in the county and officers in the towns who 
failed regularly to nominate the overseers of the poor 
were to "lose and forfeit for every such default five 
pounds." 

The system of poor-relief and apprenticeship thus 
built up in England was inherited in Virginia where it 
became very popular. One of the first pieces of similar 
legislation in Virginia which had a public educational 
aspect was passed in March, 1643 : — 

And all overseers and guardians of such orphans are en- 
joyned by the authoritie aforesayd [the county courts] to edu- 
cate and instruct them according to their best endeavors in 
Christian religion and in rudiments of learning and to provide 
for them necessaries according to the competence of their 
estates. . . .^ 

^ 18 Charles I. Hening, Statutes, vol. i, p. 261. 



18 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

The custom soon became more or less popular in North 
Carolina also, though in that colony the system seems not 
to have been so extensive as in Virginia, which was more 
nearly like the mother country. In Virginia the practice 
was so widely extended that the ante-bellum educational 
system of that State seems a gradual evolution from it.i 

As an attempt to foster a form of education with em- 
phasis on a minimum of formal intellectual training, this 
poor-law and apprenticeship system forms a unique edu- 
cational scheme. But in order to understand the popu- 
lar mental attitude to the class of dependents entrusted 
to its care — an attitude which the system itself reflects 
— it is necessary to consider that "education" is a term 
of varying meaning. The term now generally means an 
expansion of the mental faculties through a specific 
organized course of a more or less literary nature. For 
the more prosperous part of society a "certain tincture 
of letters" has, in the popular mind, always been re- 
garded as essential, but this particular form of a literary 
training has not been held in high esteem for the poorer 
classes. The popular view has been that formal intel- 
lectual and literary training was not necessary for the 
poor youth of the community. And parents or guardians 
often appeared more concerned about the practical 
training of their children or wards in the occupations 
and crafts through which they were later to maintain 
themselves than they were interested in " book learning." 

It is through the apprenticeship system that one form 
of local educational effort may be seen in North Carolina 
during the colonial period, and evidence that the legis- 
lation in Virginia influenced the practice in North Caro- 

* See Knight, "The Evolution of Public Education in Virginia," in 
the Sewanee Review, January, 1916. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 19 

lina is not wanting. We have seen that the first law in 
Virginia which had an educational aspect in the formal 
sense was passed in 1643. It was some years before leg- 
islation on the subject was enacted in North Carolina, 
but that the system was in operation here at an early 
date may be seen from the following records of Febru- 
ary, 1695, and of April, 1698: — 

Upon y* Peticon of Hon^^ Thomas Harvey esq' Ordered y* 
W" y^ son of Timothy Pead late of the County of Albemarle 
Dec^ being left destitute be bound unto y*^ s^ Thomas Harvey 
esq'' and Sarah his wife untill he be at y* age of twenty one 
years and the said Thomas Harvey to teach him to read.^ 

Three years later, in April, 1698, the records of Per- 
quimans Precinct Court show that Elizabeth Gardner, 

y* Rellock William Gardner desesed p'"sented his selfe before 
y* Court to bind hir Son William Gardner to y® Hon^' Govener 
Thomas Harvi or his Heires Thay Ingagen to Learn him to 
Reed Which In or to Was doon till he comes to y^ Age of 
Twenty on yeares he being five years ould now a fortnite 
before Crismas.^ 

Four years later, at the January, 1699, term of the 
same court, the following orders appeared : — 

Jonathan Taylor And William Taylor Orfens Being Left 
destressed ordered that they be Bound to William Long and 
Sarah His Wife Till they Come of Age. 

Thomas Tailer Orfen Being Left destressed ordered that He 
be bound to John Lawrence And Hannah his Wife till he 
Comes of age. 

Mare Tayler Orfen being Left destressed ordered that Shee 
be bound to M"" Caleb Galleway And Elisabeth his Wife till 
Shee Comes of Age. 

Thomas Hallom Orfen being Left destressed ordered that he 
be bound to flFrancis ffoster And Hannah his Wife till he Comes 
of Age.' 

1 CoL Rec, vol. i, p. 448. » Ibid., p. 495. » Ibid., p. 522. 



20 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

These examples are the bare court records and nothing 
is said about the maintenance and education of the chil- 
dren who were bound. Indentures covering each case 
were likely signed later by the guardian and the court 
which appointed him. Ordinarily these indentures 
called for the education and maintenance, according to 
his "rank and degree," of the orphan bound or appren- 
ticed. This meant to feed, clothe, lodge, and to provide 
"accommodations fit and necessary" for the child, and 
to teach or cause him to be taught to read and write, as 
well as a suitable trade. This was the customary agree- 
ment made with the courts. The absence of these fea- 
tures in the cases above is hardly proof that they were 
here neglected. The indentures were likely formally 
signed later, as appears to have been the case in the fol- 
lowing agreement made in March, 1703, in the same 
court : — 

Upon a petition of Gabriell Newby for two orphants left him 
by Mary Hancock the late wife of Thom^ Hancocke and prove- 
ing the same by the oathes of Eliz. Steward and her daughter 
the Court doe agree to bind them unto him he Ingagen & 
promising before the Court to doe his endeavours to learne the 
boy the trade of a wheelwright and likewise give him at the 
expiration of his time one year old heifer and to y^ girle at her 
freedome one Cow and Calfe besides the Custome of the 
Country and has promised to y* next orphans Court to Sign 
Indentures for that effect.^ 

At the October, 1704, term of the same court, Nathan 
Sutton petitioned to be appointed guardian for Richard 
Sutton, the orphan son of George Sutton, who was prob- 
ably Nathan's relative, but the petition was rejected. 
A year later, however, he was appointed guardian for 
the boy. The same court which appointed him guardian 
1 Col. Rec. vol. I, p. 677. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 21 

heard complaints made by the "orphans of George Sut- 
ton deced That Abraham Warren their guardian hath 
given Imoderate Correccon & deprived them of Com- 
petent Sustenance." The result was that the court ap- 
pointed Dennis Macclendon the guardian of Elizabeth 
and Deborah Sutton and Nathan Sutton guardian for 
Richard.^ 

Other examples will throw further light on the opera- 
tion of the system in North Carolina : — 

Upon petition of George Bell setting forth that he had two 
serv*^ bound to him by the precinct Court of Craven in y® 
month of July 17 12 /13 namely Charles CoggdaUe and George 
Coggdaile as by Indenture may appeare. And further that y^ 
Court af^*^ have pretended to sett y^ said Serv*- at Liberty as 
he is informed by reason that they could not perfectly read and 
write when as the time of their servitude is not half expired 
And he further claimes that during the time they were with 
him they were well used and much time allowed them to per- 
fect them in their reading and writeing and that he intended to 
instruct them in y® building of Vessells Therefore prays that in 
regard there is no other allegation made appeare ag* him they 
may remain with him till y^ time of the Indenture Specifyed 
be expired &c. . . . 

It was ordered that the servants remain with their 
master in accordance with their former indentures.^ 

The records of Chowan Precinct Court for August, 
1716, show another feature of the general practice of 
apprenticing in North Carolina which is of interest 
here: — 

Upon Petition of John Avery Shewing that sometime in 
August 1713 y^ said Avery being in Prince George's County in 
Virginia met with one John Fox aged ab* fifteen years who 
being Desireous to live in North Carolina to learn to be a Ship 
Carpenter bound himselfe an apprentice to y** said John Avery 

» Col. Rec, vol. I, pp. 613, 626. « Ibid., vol. n, p. 172. 



22 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

for Six years before one Stith Boiling Gent one of her Maj**^* 
Justices of y* said County as is practiable in y* Governm* of 
Virginia whereupon y® said Avery brought y* said Fox into 
North Carolina with him and Caused the sd John his said 
Apprentice to be Taught and Instructed to read and write and 
was at other Charges and Expenses concerning him and have- 
ing now made him serviceable and usefuU to him in y* Occu- 
pation of a Shipp Carpenter to y® Great Content and Seeming 
Satisfaction of the said Foxes Mother and Father in Law one 
Cary Godby of Chowan Precinct But y® Said Cary intending 
to proffitt and advantage himselfe by the Labour and usef uU- 
ness of y® said John Fox hath advised the said Fox to withdraw 
himselfe from yo' petition''^ service and to bring along his In- 
dentures of apprenticeship & is now Entertained and har- 
boured by the said Cary Godby and therefore prayes that the 
s*^ Fox may be apprehended and brought before this Board 
their to be dealt with according to law. 

' Fox was ordered to return to his master.* 
A record of November, 1716, in Chowan Precinct 
Court, shows that the practice applied to girls as well as 
to boys : — 

Upon the Peticon of John Swain praying that Elizabeth 
Swain his sister an Orphane Girle bound by the Precinct Court 
of Chowan to John Worley Esq' May in the time of her service 
be taught to read by her said Master Ordered, that she be 
taught to read.'^ 

These examples are suflScient to indicate the early 
operation of the practice in North Carolina. If the rec- 
ords were more complete considerably earlier examples 
would doubtless appear. By the practice, poor children 
were bound to masters and guardians were appointed 
for orphans, the masters or guardians agreeing with the 
local court, which had charge of this dependent class, to 
teach the wards a trade or occupation and also to read 
» Col. Rec, vol. II, p. 24.1. ^ 75^^^ p. 266. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 23 

and write. When an orphan had an estate the master 
was entitled to receive remuneration for administering 
it; but if his estate yielded no profit the master ordi- 
narily agreed to bind the orphan for his services. Under 
these conditions the child likely took his place in the 
household on an equality with the other children, and 
perhaps received the same educational advantages 
afforded them. 

Although the practice of apprenticing and binding 
orphans and poor children under the conditions de- 
scribed was more or less extensive in the colony at an 
early date, no legislation seems to have been enacted on 
the subject until 1715. In that year a law was passed 
by which no children were allowed to be bound except 
by the precinct court, which was empowered to "grant 
letters of tuition or guardianship to such persons as they 
shall think proper," for caring for the "education of all 
orphans & for taking care of their estates. . . ." The 
law required that 

all Orphans shall be Educated & provided for according to 
their Rank & degree out of the Income or Interest of their 
Estate & Stock if the same will be sufficient Otherwise such 
Orphans shall be bound Apprentice to some Handycraft Trade 
(the Master or Mistress of such Orphan not being of the Pro- 
fession called Quakers) till they shall come of Age unless some 
kin to such Orphan will undertake to maintain & Educate him 
or them for the interest or income of his or her Estate without 
Diminution of the Principal whether the same be great or 
small. . . .^ 

The principal features of this legislation are similar to 

the features of a law on the same subject in Virginia. 

Close contact with that colony, from which many of the 

early settlers of North Carolina came and in which 

* Col. Rec., vol. xxin, pp. 70-71. 



24 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the poor and apprenticeship laws formed practically the 
only educational system for the poorer classes, may have 
influenced the gradual introduction of apprenticeship 
practices into North Carolina. In Virginia, one of the 
first pieces of apprenticeship legislation which has a pub- 
lic educational aspect was that of March, 1643, when the 
county courts enjoined the overseers of the poor and 
guardians of orphans 

to educate and instruct them according to their best endeavors 
in Christian religion and in the rudiments of learning and to 
provide for them necessaries according to the competence of 
their estates. . . .^ 

By an act of 1705, it was ordered that when the estate of 
any orphan was so small 

that no person will maintain him for the profits thereof, then 
such orphan shall be bound apprentice to some handicraft 
trade, or mariner, until he shall attain to the age of one and 
twenty. And the master of each of such orphan shall be 
obliged to teach him to read and write: and at the expiration 
of his servitude, to pay and allow him in like manner as is ap- 
pointed for servants, by indenture or custom.^ 

Another example will serve to make clearer the simi- 
larity of legislation on this subject in the two colonies 
and the probable influence of the law of Virginia on the 
law of North Carolina. In 1748 it was enacted in the 
former colony that whenever the profits of an orphan's 
estate were insufficient to maintain him, such an orphan 
was to be bound apprentice, 

every male to some tradesman, merchant, mariner, or other 
person approved by the court, until he shall attain the age of 
one and twenty years, and every female to some suitable trade 

■ 18 Charles I. Hening, Statutes, vol. i, p. 261 
* 4 Anne. Hening, Statutes, vol. in, p. 375. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 25 

or employment, till her age of eighteen years; and the master 
or mistress of every such servant shall find and provide for hhn 
or her, diet, clothes, lodgings and accommodations fit and 
necessary, and shall teach, or cause him or her to be taught to 
read and write, and at the expiration of his or her apprentice- 
ship, shall pay every such servant, the like allowance as is by 
law appointed for servants by indenture or custom. . . .^ 

Seven years later, in September, 1755, there was en- 
acted in North Carolina a law regulating the estates of 
orphans and their guardians. The preamble of this law 
explained the need for further legislation on this 
subject: — 

Whereas, for want of proper laws for regulating guardians, 
and the management of orphans, their interests and estates 
have been greatly abused and their education very much neg- 
lected ; for prevention whereof for the future, be it enacted. . . . 

By this law the church wardens of every parish were 
to furnish to the justices of the orphans' court, at its 
annual session, the names of all children without guardi- 
ans. Failure to perform this duty was punishable by a 
fine of "ten pounds proclamation money each." The 
court was to appoint guardians for all such children and 
these guardians were to make reports to the court of 
their wards and apprentices. When the court "shall 
know or be informed that any guardian or guardians by 
them respectfully appointed, do waste or convert the 
money or estate of any orphan to his or her own use, or 
do in any manner mismanage the same ... or neglects 
to educate or maintain any orphan according to his or 
her degree and circumstances," the court was then em- 
powered to establish other rules and regulations for the 
better management of such estate and "for the better 
* 22 George II. Hening, Statutes, vol. v, pp. 449 jf. 



26 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

educating and maintaining such orphans." When the 
profits of any orphan's estate "shall be more than suffi- 
cient to maintain and educate him," the surplus was to 
be invested on good and sufficient security. But if the 
estate 

shall be of so small value that no person will educate or main- 
tain him or her for the profits thereof, such orphan shall by the 
direction of the court be bound apprentice, every male to some 
tradesman, merchant, mariner, or other person approved by 
the court, until he shall attain the age of twenty-one years, and 
every female to some suitable employment till her age of eight- 
een years, and the master or mistress of every such servant 
shall find and provide for him or her diet, clothes, lodging, and 
accommodations fit and necessary, and shall teach, or cause 
him or her to be taught, to read and write, and at the expira- 
tion of his or her apprenticeship shall pay every such servant 
the like allowance as is by law appointed for servants by inden- 
ture or custom, and on refusal shall be compelled thereto in 
like manner. . . . 

The act was to remain in force for five years from 
passage. 

In April, 1760, a law similar to the law of 1755 was 
enacted, and two years later we find further legislation 
on the subject of the maintenance and education of 
orphans. Additional legislation was justified, according 
to the preamble, by the "experience that the court of 
each respective county, exercising the power of regulat- 
ing the education of orphans, and the management of 
their estates, have proved of singular service to them." 
This differed from previous legislation in one essential 
point. Formerly the church wardens of every parish 
were required to report to the court the names of or- 
phans and poor children without guardians or masters. 
By this act that duty was transferred to the grand jury 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 27 

of every county. Provision was further made for an 
orphans' court to be held by the justices of every inferior 
court of pleas and quarter sessions. This court was to be 
held once a year when accounts of guardians were to be 
exhibited and complaints heard. 

The educational features of the act have a certain 
interest. The guardian of any orphan whose estate fur- 
nished the orphan an economic competency was to su- 
pervise his education and maintenance. When the estate 
was of such small value that " no person will educate and 
maintain him or her for the profits thereof," the orphan 
was to be bound apprentice by the court, 

every male to some tradesman, merchant, mariner, or other 
person approved by the court, until he shall attain to the age 
of twenty-one years; and every female to some suitable em- 
ployment, till her age of eighteen years; and also such court 
may, in like manner, bind apprentice all free base born chil- 
dren; and every such female child being a mulatto or mustee, 
until she shall attain the age of twenty-one years; and the mas- 
ter or mistress of every such apprentice, shall find and provide 
for him or her diet, clothes, lodging, accommodations, fit and 
necessary; and shall teach or cause him or her to be taught, to 
read and write; and at the expiration of his or her apprentice- 
ship, shall pay every such apprentice the like allowance as is 
by law appointed, for servants by indenture or custom; and 
on refusal, shall be compelled thereto, in like manner; and if on 
complaint made to the inferior court of pleas and quarter ses- 
sions, it shall appear that any such apprentice is ill-used, or not 
taught the trade, profession or employment to which he or she 
is bound, it shall be lawful for such court to remove and bind 
him or her to such other person or persons as they shall think 
fit. 

With the exception of certain vestry acts this re- 
mained until the national period practically the only 
legislation governing apprentices and the poor in the 
colony of North Carolina. The chief of these acts was 



28 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

passed in January, 1764, and described the duties of 
vestrymen in making provision for the clergy and the 
poor. By this act the vestrymen of each parish were 
"directed and required," annually between Easter and 
November, " to lay a poll tax on the taxable persons in 
their parish, not exceeding ten shillings, for building 
churches and chapels, paying the ministers' salary, pur- 
chasing a glebe . . . encouraging schools, maintaining 
the poor, paying clerks and readers, etc." ^ No impor- 
tant changes were made in this legislation until 1777 
when an act was passed transferring to "overseers of the 
poor" certain powers and duties which hitherto had 
devolved on the vestrymen.^ 

Here may be seen an important change in the concep- 
tion of educational control. By the act of 1762, already 
described, the duty of reporting to the justices of the 
local court the names of orphans and poor children with- 
out guardians or masters was transferred from the 
church wardens to the county grand jury. By the Ves- 
try Act of 1777 similar authority was transferred from 
the vestrymen to the "overseers of the poor." The edu- 
cational significance of these changes is important: now 
the authority for controlling the maintenance and edu- 
cation of the poor is transferred from the Church to the 
State. From this change is gradually developed the idea 
that caring for and "educating" the poor of the com- 
munity is a state function. This general change is also 
clearly marked in the legislation dealing with the poor 
in Virginia.' 

In the main, the foregoing describes the practice in 

1 Col. Rec, vol. XXIII, p. 601. * Ibid., vol. xxiv, p. 93. 

' See Knight, "The Evolution of Public Education in Virginia," in 
the Sewanee Review, January, 1916. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM 29 

North Carolina of apprenticing poor children and or- 
phans whose economic competency was insuflScient to 
maintain and educate them. The custom was not so 
extensive and popular as in Virginia which was more 
directly influenced by conditions and practices in Eng- 
land. Scarcity of evidence on the subject in North Caro- 
lina may be accounted for by the fact that children ap- 
prenticed by the court probably took their places in the 
homes of their guardians or masters on conditions of 
maintenance and education usually allowed other mem- 
bers of the household. The master was probably re- 
quired to give his apprentice practically the same care 
and attention given to his own children; for when it 
appeared that the apprentice was ill-used, not properly 
provided with "accommodations fit and necessary," or 
not properly taught as agreed to in the indentures, he 
was removed and re-apprenticed to some other master 
approved by the court. This important feature of the 
apprenticeship practice seems to have been a regular 
requirement. 

A study of the system in North Carolina is not only 
suggestive, but leads to certain interesting conclusions. 
From it we may see that as early as 1695 the practice 
required provision for teaching the apprentice to read 
and write, and that the court released apprentices when 
"they could not perfectly read and write." It is prob- 
able that this requirement was universal in the colony, 
though abundant evidence on the extent of the custom 
of apprenticing is unfortunately not accessible. We 
have also seen that the apprenticeship legislation in the 
colony of Virginia influenced similar legislation in North 
Carolina, as the act of 1748 in the former, and of 1755 in 
the latter, colony give evidence. It also appeared that 



80 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the practice in North CaroHna applied to orphans, poor 
children, free illegitimate children, to girls as well as to 
boys, and to female mulattoes and mustees. Moreover, 
by the act of 1715, requiring that "all Orphans shall be 
Educated & provided for according to their Rank and 
degree," the existence of schools or other means of intel- 
lectual training is implied. The language of the law of 
1755, "neglects to educate or maintain an orphan ac- 
cording to his or her degree and circumstances," and 
that of the law of 1762, "regulating the education of 
orphans, and the management of their estates, have 
proved of singular service to them," and "educate and 
maintain," may be considered additional evidence that 
certain educational facilities, however meager they may 
have been, were available for this dependent class.* 

^ The law of 1762 remained strictly in force for many years. As late 
as February, 1827, a bill "to repeal so much of an act passed in 1762 
as requires the master or mistress to teach or cause to be taught colored 
apprentices to read and write" failed in the Legislature. See House 
Journal, 1826-27, pp. 202, 207. 



THE APPRENTICESHIP SYSTEM SI 



REFERENCES 

The Colonial Records of North Carolina; Davis's Revisal 
(1773) ; Hentng, Statutes of Virginia; Bruce, Institutional His- 
tory of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century; Clews, Educational 
Legislation and Administration of the Colonial Governments; 
Nicholls, A History of the English Poor-Law; Leach, English 
Schools at the Reformation; Cyclopedia of Education, edited by 
Paul Monroe, vol. v, article, "Poor-Laws and Education"; 
Knight, "The Evolution of Public Education in Virginia," in 
the Sewanee Review, January, 1916. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. How did the poor-laws and the apprenticeship practices 
form an educational system? 

2. Show how the system grew up in Europe and how it was 
transferred to this country. 

S. Show how the practice in Virginia probably influenced 
the custom in North Carolina. 

4. What were the educational advantages of such a system? 
What were the disadvantages? 

5. Compare the aim of education under this system with the 
aim of education to-day. 

6. Point out other relations between this form of education 
and our present public-school system. 

7. In what respect is our present system of education a 
development from the apprenticeship system? 

8. Examine the court records of your county for examples 
of the educational features of the apprenticeship system. 

9. Why is the apprenticeship practice less extensive than 
formerly? How extensive is the custom in North Caro- 
lina to-day? 

10. Examine the agreements by which children are bound out 
by the court to-day and note any educational features 
which they contain. 



CHAPTER III 

UNDER ROYAL RULE 

It was pointed out in Chapter I that but Httle was 
accompHshed for educational improvement under the 
lords proprietors. For nearly a quarter of a century 
after the transfer of the colony to royal control, in 1729, 
practically the same conditions prevailed as before. In 
1729 the white population of the colony was estimated 
at not more than thirteen thousand, and the inhabitants 
were sparsely distributed. Conditions still continued 
unfavorable to intellectual and educational develop- 
ment. As late as 1736 the colony had no printing-press, 
no printed collection of its laws, and perhaps only a few 
regularly settled schoolmasters. The first printing-press 
came into the colony in 1749 and the laws were first 
published two years later. For a long time no govern- 
mental provision was made for schools, but "there were 
many highly educated citizens scattered throughout the 
province, who lived with considerable style and refine- 
ment. Sturdy, honest, and hospitable agriculturists 
gathered around themselves elements of large future 
development, and their premises showed wealth, indus- 
try, and care." Later on many of these well-to-do fam- 
ilies of the Cape Fear region sent their sons to Harvard, 
those of the northeast section sent theirs to England for 
education, and the Presbyterians of the interior region 
educated their sons at Princeton. Some local provision 
was also made for education, though the poorer classes 



UNDER ROYAL RULE S3 

of the population were neglected and more or less 
ignorant. 

Occasional attempts were made, however, for educa- 
tional improvement of the masses. The first notable ex- 
ample of such efforts was in 1736, when, in his message 
to the Assembly, Governor Gabriel Johnston said, after 
"observing the deplorable and almost total want of 
divine worship throughout the Province" of North 
Carolina: — 

In all civilized Societys of men, it has always been looked 
upon as a matter of the greatest consequence to their Peace 
and happiness, to polish the minds of Young Persons with some 
degree of learning, and early to instill into them the Principles 
of Virtue and religion, and that the Legislature has never yet 
taken the least care to erect one school, which deserves the 
name in this wide extended country, must in the judgement of 
all thinking men, be reckoned one of our greatest misfortunes. 
To what purpose Gentlemen is all your toil and labour, all 
your pains and endeavours for the advantage and enriching 
your famihes and Posterity, if within ourselves you cannot 
afford them such an education as may qualify them to be use- 
full to their Country and to enjoy what you leave them with 
decency . . . and now Gentlemen represent all this to your- 
selves at one view; consider a country where there has never 
yet any Provision been made for Keeping up the sense and awe 
of a Deity on the minds of People; where no care has been 
taken to inspire the youth with generous sentiments, worthy 
Principles, or the least tincture of literature; where the Laws 
are dispersed up and down in different Places on loose Papers, 
some of them contradictory, others unintelligible. . . . Then 
consider yourselves as the Representatives of this Country, 
who have not only the power and means, but are earnestly 
pressed and desired to remedy these calamities, to supply 
these defects; and when you have done all this, lay your hands 
upon your hearts and consider how you can answer it to God 
and your own consciences, how you can answer it to your 
Country or your Posterity, if you either neglect this oppor- 



34 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

tunity of pursuing such valuable ends, or are diverted from it 
by the trifling arts of designing men.^ 

Three days later the Assembly replied sympatheti- 
cally to the governor's message: — 

We lament very much the want of Divine Public worship (a 
crying scandal in any, but more especially in a Christian Com- 
munity;) as well as the general neglect in point of education, 
the main sources of all disorders and Corruptions, which we 
should rejoice to see removed and remedeyed, and are ready to 
do our parts, towards the reformation of such flagrant and 
prolifick Evils. 

The Assembly then assured the governor "that no 
insinuations, no artifices of any party or sett of men 
whatsoever, can alter our sentiments or change these 
our views." 

In October the committee on grievances in the lower 
House presented a list of grievances which included the 
collection of quitrents and other matters. The gover- 
nor, discussing the report, regretted that the committee 
had "been so remiss in their duty as to present so few 
grievances and those so little material. In any other 
country besides this, I am satisfied they would have 
taken notice of the want of divine worship, the neglect 
of the education of youth, the bad state of your laws and 
the impossibility to execute them. . . ." The next year 
the governor again called attention, in his message to 
the Assembly, to the need for making "provision for the 
education of youth." 

Nothing was done for education, however, until 1745, 
when an act was passed empowering the town commis- 
sioners of Edenton to build a schoolhouse, the expense 
of which was to be defrayed by money arising from the 
» Col. Rec., vol. IV, pp. 227, 228. 



UNDER ROYAL RULE 85 

sale of town lots and by donations and subscriptions 
which the commissioners were authorized to receive. 
There is no evidence that the house was ever built. 
Again in 1749 a bill was introduced looking to the estab- 
lishment of a free school, but it was never enacted into 
law. In 1752 effort was again made to erect schools, and 
the lower House of the Assembly promised the governor 
to take measures to promote the " virtuous education of 
our youth," but this failed also. Two years later, in 
1754, the sum of £6000 was appropriated by the Assem- 
bly for the purpose of building a school. Later "a rea- 
sonable tax on each negro" in the colony was promised 
to supplement a liberal offer of George Vaughan, an 
English merchant, who agreed to give "one thousand 
pounds yearly forever" to promote education among 
the Indians of the province, but this tax was agreed to 
on condition that Vaughan would allow his donation 
to "extend as an academy or seminary of religion and 
learning to all His Majesty's subjects in North Caro- 
lina." After legal provision was made for the school, 
however, the funds appropriated were used for war and 
other purposes with the result that the Vaughan plan 
never materialized. 

Governor Dobbs, who succeeded Governor Johnston, 
was, like his predecessor, solicitous for the encourage- 
ment and promotion of education, and continually 
urged the establishment of " proper schools in the prov- 
ince, for the education of youth. . . ." In November, 
1758, the lower House of the Assembly assured the gov- 
ernor "that nothing shall be wanting to promote a work 
of such interesting consequences, though at present we 
are somewhat at a loss in what manner to accomplish 
it . . . "; and the upper House declared that it had "at 



36 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

heart nothing more than the defences of the country, the 
promoting true religion, the education of our youth in 
the reformed Protestant rehgion and moral virtues. . . ." 
In 1759, and again in 1764, the governor petitioned the 
Board of Trade to permit a reissue in bills of the money 
originally intended for education, but this was refused, 
as was also the request that the colony's share of the re- 
imbursement for war purposes be applied to schools. 

In November, 1760, Dobbs again urged the Assembly 
to "seriously consider of giving encouragement for 
schools," and as usual the Assembly promised cooper- 
ation. In December, 1762, the Reverend James Reed 
preached before the Assembly a sermon on the impor- 
tance of education and this sermon was printed at public 
expense and distributed in the colony. Dr. Weeks says 
that this was probably the first public expenditure for 
education in the province. 

Only a few other efforts were made during the colonial 
period to promote education, and fewer still were suc- 
cessful. In January, 1764, Thomas Tomlinson opened a 
private school in Newbern and the Reverend James 
Reed reported that subscriptions in notes amounting to 
£110 sterling had been secured for the purpose of build- 
ing a house. Later he and numerous residents of the 
town petitioned Governor Tryon to solicit the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel to settle a salary on 
Tomlinson. This the governor did, and the Society 
responded favorably. The school had at that time about 
thirty pupils. In 1766 further provision was made for 
establishing a schoolhouse in the town of Newbern. In 
order that the benefits of the school "may be as exten- 
sive as possible, and that the poor who may be unable to 
educate their children may enjoy the benefits thereof,'* 



UNDER ROYAL RULE S7 

an import tax of one penny a gallon was levied on all 
rum and other liquors brought into the Neuse River for 
seven years, and with this revenue ten poor children 
were to be educated. This was the first school or acad- 
emy incorporated in North Carolina and this was the 
first law of any great importance passed in the colony on 
the subject of education. In 1767 and 1768 efforts were 
made to establish a school in the town of Edenton, but 
attempted legislation on the subject failed temporarily 
when the Assembly opposed the enforcement of the 
terms of the Schism Act which required all teachers to 
be members of the Established Church. Later, however, 
the school was chartered as the Edenton Academy and 
under terms similar to those of the charter of the school 
at Newbern. Under the terms of the reproduced Schism 
Act, no person could teach in either of these schools ex- 
cept members of the Established Church. This require- 
ment, which proved so exasperating to the colonists, 
permitted no one, under penalty of imprisonment for 
three months, to keep a private or public school or to act 
as tutor or usher, unless he first obtained license from 
the Bishop of London and conformed to the Anglican 
liturgy. Such a requirement was attended by many 
evils and prevented the dissenters in the colony from 
providing educational facihties for their children. 

Notable educational advancement through private 
incorporated academies began before the close of the 
colonial period, however, and continued through the 
first quarter of the nineteenth century and later. One of 
the factors influencing this development was the immi- 
gration as early as 1740 of the Scotch and Scotch-Irish 
into the colony. Thousands of these people, disabled in 
consequence of their religion, sought homes in America, 



38 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

and many of them came to North Carolina and settled 
in the Piedmont section of the State. In every commu- 
nity where they came a schoolhouse and church sprang 
up simultaneously with the settlement; "almost invari- 
ably as soon as a neighborhood was settled preparations 
were made for the preaching of the gospel by a regular 
stated pastor, and wherever a pastor was located, in 
that congregation there was a classical school. . . ," 
Before 1750 the New York and Pennsylvania Presby- 
terian synods began to send missionaries into North 
Carolina, and these helped to stimulate educational 
activity. Moreover, Princeton College proved an edu- 
cational impulse to the State. Scores of graduates of 
that institution, some natives of North Carolina who 
went there for their training, and many from other 
States, cast their lot here and for half a century had a 
predominating influence in the religious and educational 
life of the State. One of the first of these was the Rever- 
end Hugh McAden, a graduate of the class of 1733 and 
one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church in the 
South. 

The German element, migrating from Pennsylvania, 
proved another educational influence. The migration of 
these people began as early as 1745, and by 1785 there 
were as many as fifteen thousand of them in the State. 
Like the Scotch-Irish, they established churches and 
schools as soon as they had made a settlement, and if 
there was a scarcity of teachers among them the needed 
supply was brought in from Germany. The coming of 
the Pennsylvania Quakers between 1743 and 1785 also 
added a certain educational and moral strength to the 
colony. 

The first classical school established in the colony 



UNDER ROYAL RULE 39 

under the Presbyterian influence was Tate's Academy, 
founded in Wilmington in 1760, by the Reverend James 
Tate and continued by him until 1778. In the same year 
that this school was founded, Crowfield Academy was 
opened in Mecklenburg County, near the present loca- 
tion of Davidson College. This school had an extensive 
influence and furnished a classical training to many 
young men who later became prominent in the life of the 
State, It was from this academy that Davidson College 
is said to have grown. 

Perhaps the most illustrious educator of this period 
was Dr. David Caldwell, whose celebrated "log college," 
which was located near Greensboro, served for so many 
years in the capacity of academy, college, and theologi- 
cal seminary. The school was founded in 1767 and in a 
short time became the most important institution of 
learning in North Carolina and one of the most influen- 
tial in the entire South. Thoroughness rather than an 
extensive curriculum was its chief feature. The average 
annual enrollment in the school was between fifty and 
sixty, and it is said that more men entered the learned 
professions from its student body than from any other 
school in the South. Five of Dr. Caldwell's students 
became governors of States, several went to Congress, 
and many became prominent as jurists, physicians, and 
preachers. But for a temporary interruption by the 
British in 1781 the institution had an unbroken career 
of success until 1822, when old age compelled its brilliant 
leader to retire from active service. 

Clio's Nursery and Science Hall was a school con- 
ducted in Iredell County by Dr. James Hall, of the class 
of 1774 of Princeton, a man of considerable ability as 
teacher and preacher. The school was opened about the 



40 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

beginning of the Revolution. The "academy of sci- 
ences" in which Dr. Hall was the only instructor was 
conducted in connection with the Nursery and was per- 
haps the first scientific course in the State. Many young 
men who later became prominent in pubhc life were 
students of Dr. Hall. 

Zion Parnassus, another Presbyterian school of con- 
siderable influence, was established at Thyatira, near 
Salisbury, in 1785, by the Reverend Samuel C. Mc- 
Corkle, a graduate of Princeton of the class of 1772, and 
a man of force and ability. This school is best known for 
its normal department, which was the first attempt at 
teacher training in the State and one of the first in this 
country, and for its assistance of tuition and books to 
worthy students. The school maintained a high order 
of scholarship and had an extensive influence. Six of the 
seven members of the first graduating class of the state 
university received their college preparation in this 
school. After Dr. McCorkle's death in 1811 the institu- 
tion was suspended, but it was later opened in Salisbury 
where for many years it was conducted as the Salisbury 
High School. 

Queen's College, also known as Queen's Museum, was 
another Presbyterian school and the most important 
institution for higher education in the colony, though 
its career was brief and beset with numerous obstacles. 
This was the last institution to seek incorporation from 
the king and the first to receive a charter from the new 
State. The school had its beginning in the work of the 
Reverend Joseph Alexander, a graduate of Princeton of 
the class of 1760, who, with a Mr. Benedict, established 
a small classical school at the Sugar Creek Presbyterian 
Church in a prosperous and intelligent community near 



UNDER ROYAL RULE 41 

Charlotte, in 1767. In December, 1770, it was chartered 
by the Assembly as Queen's Museum, but the charter 
was repealed by the king and council. Later a second 
charter was secured only to meet the same fate. The 
chartering of this school furnished the first clear example 
of the operation of the reproduced Schism Act in the 
colony. The organizers of the institution were willing 
to allow a member of the Established Church to serve 
as president, but insisted that its trustees and instruc- 
tors should be free from the requirement of the Schism 
Act. Fear that the school would become a great and 
permanent advantage to the dissenters and a "fountain 
of republicanism" led to a repeal of its charter. In spite 
of royal disfavor, however, the institution flourished 
without a charter. The house was used for debating and 
literary clubs and accommodated the meeting which 
formulated the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ- 
ence. In 1775 the name was changed to Liberty Hall 
Academy, and two years later it received a charter from 
the new State Government. The institution soon came 
directly under the control of the Presbyterians. The 
curriculum was advanced for the time, though no degrees 
were ever awarded; diplomas and certificates of attend- 
ance were given, however. The school continued until 
1780 when it was suspended, never to be reopened. 

Providence Academy, near Charlotte, established by 
the Reverend James Wallis in 1792, Poplar Tent Acad- 
emy in Cabarrus County, established by the Reverend 
Robert Archibald in 1778, and a school established in 
Fayetteville by the Reverend David Ker in 1791, were 
other schools of influence and usefulness founded and 
promoted by the Presbyterians of North Carolina in the 
eighteenth century. 



42 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 



REFERENCES 

Swann's Revisal (1752) ; Davis's Revisal (1773) ; The Colonial 
Records of North Carolina; Weeks, Libraries and Literature in 
North Carolina in the Eighteenth Century, The Press in North 
Carolina in the Eighteenth Century, Church and State in North 
Carolina, The Religious Development in the Province of North 
Carolina, and Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of 
the Common Schools of North Carolina; Raper, The Church and 
Private Schools in North Carolina; Cheshire, Sketches of Church 
History in North Carolina; McRee, The Life and Correspond- 
ence of James Iredell; Hawks, History of North Carolina; Wad- 
dell, A Colonial Officer and His Times; Foote, Sketches of North 
Carolina; Smith, History of Education in North Carolina; 
Brickell, A Natural History of North Carolina; Cyclopedia of 
Education, edited by Paul Monroe, vol. ii, article, "Colonial 
Period in American Education." 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

Why was the colony of North Carolina transferred from 
proprietary to royal management? 
What political and social changes, if any, took place as a 
result of the transfer? 

Were conditions as favorable for education after the 
transfer as under the lords proprietors? 
What were some of the obstacles in the way of educa- 
tional development in the colony between 1729 and the 
Revolutionary period? 

What was the attitude of the mother country toward 
education in the colonies during this time? 
What attempts were made for the education of the 
masses during these years? 

How did England's attitude toward the education of the 
masses reflect itself in her policy toward the colonies in 
the eighteenth century? 

What was being done for education in the other colonies 
between 1700 and 1775? 



UNDER ROYAL RULE 43 

9. Make a study of immigration to North Carolina in 
the eighteenth century and point out its educational 
influence. 

10. Study the educational influence of the religious denomi- 
nations in North Carolina before 1800. 

11. What was the actual educational influence of the Schism 
Act in North Carolina? 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 

With the American Revolution and the beginning of 
the national period, a new type of institution began to 
develop in the United States and to provide more or less 
extensive educational facilities. This new school was 
the academy, the forerunner of the modern public high 
school, and from the Revolutionary period until near 
the middle of the nineteenth century the academy was 
recognized as the leader in secondary education in 
this country. Its development was demanded by the 
changed conditions of the time. During colonial days 
the Latin Grammar School, which was largely repro- 
duced from the English type, was narrow in its curricu- 
lum, the classics occupying chief place, and its primary 
purpose was to prepare for college. This institution was 
therefore naturally exclusive in character. After the 
Revolution, however, the tendency toward religious di- 
versity and the gradual growth of the democratic spirit 
demanded a type of institution which would furnish a 
training to the majority who would not go to college and 
one more nearly suited to the demands of the changed 
conditions. 

This new type of school was usually private, but in 
most cases was recognized by the State, and in a few 
States, especially in New York and Georgia, it was 
given state support. Tuition charges were always made. 
No degrees were given, but diplomas and certificates 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 45 

were awarded. The institution flourished until about 
1850 when it began to dedine, and later it was generally 
deposed by the public high school which began to de- 
velop after the Civil War. 

With the granting of a charter to Liberty Hall Acad- 
emy in 1777/ North Carolina began to recognize acade- 
mies, which for half a century or more had an extensive 
growth in the State. ^ Science Hall, at Hillsboro, was 
the next to secure a charter, in 1779, and was given the 
same privileges as were given Liberty Hall, that of a 
corporation, of naming its own trustees, and of awarding 
diplomas and certificates of study. In 1784 Science Hall 
was given the privilege of raising money by lottery, per- 
haps "the first instance in the history of the free State 
in which the aid of the Government to schools extended 
beyond the mere formal granting of charters." 

Granville Hall, in Granville County, was chartered in 
October, 1779, with Richard Caswell, Governor, and 
Abner Nash and Thomas Benbury, President of the 
Senate and Speaker of the House, respectively, the lead- 
ing trustees. Considerable money seems to have been 
subscribed for the school and the trustees were author- 
ized to purchase five hundred acres of land and to erect 
buildings. The Reverend Henry Pattillo, another 
Princeton man, a prominent early teacher of the State 

1 See p. 41. 
■ * Jedidiah Morse, in his American Universal Geography, which first 
appeared in 1793, says of North Carolina: "There is a good academy 
at Warrenton, another at WilHamsborough in Granville, and three or 
four others in the State, of considerable note." The identical state- 
ment, it is interesting to observe, also appeared in W. Winterbotham's 
An Histcyrical, Geographical, Commercial, and Philosophical View of the 
American United States, and of the European Settlements in America 
and the West Indies, a work in four volumes which was published in 
London in 1795. 



46 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

and an author of some note, was principal of this 
school.^ 

Smith Academy, in Edenton, chartered by the Assem- 
bly in 1782, was the gift of Robert Smith, a lawyer- 
merchant of that town. The following year the Assem- 
bly chartered lunes Academy in Wilmington, a school 
founded by a gift made by the following portion of the 
will of Colonel James Innes, made in 1754: — 

I also give and bequeth att the Death of my Loving Wife 
Jean Innes my Plantation Called Point Pleasant and the Op- 
posite mash Land over the River for which ther is a Seperate 
Patent, Two Negero Young Woomen One Negero young Man 
and there Increase, all the Stock of Cattle and Hogs, halfe the 
Stock of Horses belonging at the time to that Plantation With 
all my Books, and One Hundred Pounds Sterling or the Equiv- 
alent thereunto in the Currency of the Country For the Use of 
a Free School for the benefite of the Youth of North Carolina. 
And to see that this part of my Will is dewly executed att the 
time, I appoint the Colonell of the New Hanover Regement, 
the Parson of Wilmington Church and the Vestrey for the time 
being, or the Majority of them as they shall from time to time 
be choised or appointed. . . . 

The act of incorporation provided that 

the rector, professors, and tutors of this academy, and all other 
academies and public schools in this state established by law, 
shall be exempt from military duty during their continuance 
in those offices, provided the number of teachers in any of the 
said academies or public schools shall not exceed three; pro- 
vided, also, that all scholars and students entering into said 
academy, or any other public school and being of the age of 
fifteen years or under at the time of entering, shall, dur- 
ing their continuance thereat, be exempt from all military 
duties. 

^ Weeks, Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the Com- 
mon Scliools of North Carolina. 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 47 

Of the life and work of Innes Academy little is known. 
A building was begun soon after the charter was granted, 
but in 1803 the school seemed to be in unfortunate cir- 
cumstances, and the hope of the donor was probably 
never realized. 

The only other example of similar individual interest 
in education during the Colonial period was the will of 
James Winwright, of Carteret County, which was made 
in 1744: — 

I will and appoint that the yearly Rents and profits of all the 
Town land and Houses in Beaufort Town Belonging unto me 
with the other Land adjoining thereto (which I purchased of 
John Pindar) after the Decease of my wife Ann to be applyed 
to the Uses hereinafter Mentioned for Ever (to wit) for The 
encouragement of a Sober discreet QuaUifyed Man to teach a 
School at least Reading Writing Vulgar and Decimal Arith- 
metick in the aforesd. town of Beaufort, wch said Man Shall 
be Chosen and appointed by the Chair Man (or the Next in 
Commission) of Carteret County Court and one of Church 
Wardens of St. John parish in the aforesd. County and Their 
Successors for Ever, also I give and Bequeath the Summ of 
Fifty pounds Sterling (provided that my estate Shall be Worth 
so much after my Just Debts and other Legacys are paid and 
Discharged) to be applyed for the Building and finishing of a 
Creditable House for a School and Dwelling house for the 
Master to be Erected and Built on Some part of my Land 
Near the White house Which I bought of the aforesaid Pindar, 
and my True Intent and Meaning is that all the yearly profits 
and advantages arising by the aforesd. Town Lotts and Lands 
thereunto adjoining as aforesd. with the Use of the sd Land for 
Making and Improving a plantation for the planting and Rais- 
ing of Corn, etc. (if the aforesd. Master or teacher of sd. School 
Shall think proper to plant and Improve the same) be entirely 
for the use and Benefitt of ye sd. Master and his Successors 
During his and their Good Behaviour, — Also that the sd. 
Master Shall not be obliged to teach or take under his Care 
any Shoolar or Schoolars Imposed on him by the Trustees 



48 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

herein Mentioned or their successors or by any other person. 
But shall have free Liberty to teach and take under his care 
Such and so many Schoolars as he shall think Convenient and 
to Receive his Reward for the Teaching of them as he and the 
persons tendering them shall agree. 

There is no record that a school was ever established 
on this foundation. 

In April 1783, the Assembly incorporated Martin 
Academy, in what is now Washington County, Tennes- 
see, with the same powers as were granted Liberty Hall 
Academy in Charlotte. This school, which is said to be 
the first educational institution established in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, became Washington College in 1795. In 
1785 Davidson Academy, at Nashville, was chartered 
by the Assembly of North Carolina. In 1806 this school 
was rechartered as Cumberland College, and in 1826 as 
the University of Nashville, which had a long and useful 
career. In 1875 an arrangement was made between this 
institution and the trustees of the Peabody Fund by 
which the Peabody Normal School developed and later 
absorbed the University of Nashville. 

From 1785 until 1825 or later, various other schools 
and academies were chartered by authority of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, though little is known of the career of 
many of them subsequent to their incorporation. The 
privileges accorded these schools were usually the same. 
Certificates could be granted, but degrees were not 
allowed. The pupils and teachers were occasionally ex- 
empted from military duty, now and then the school 
property was exempted from taxation, and occasionally 
permission was given to raise funds by lottery. In most 
cases the trustees selected the teachers and had general 
control over the school. The number of schools thus 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 49 

chartered during these years, from 1785 to 1825, may be 
seen from the following summary: ^ 

In 1785: Dobbs Academy at Kinston, and Grove 
Academy in Duplin County. 

In 1786: Franklin Academy at Louisburg, Pittsboro 
Academy in Chatham County, Pitt Academy at Green- 
ville, and Warrenton Academy in Warren County. 

In 1789: Richmond Academy in Richmond County, 
and the Currituck Seminary of Learning in Currituck 
County. 

In 1791: Onslow Academy in Onslow County, and 
Stokes Seminary at Wadesboro. 

In 1793: Tarboro Academy in Edgecombe County and 
Lumberton Academy and Raft-Swamp Academy in 
Robeson County. 

In 1797: Murfreesboro Academy in Hertford County, 
Montgomery Seminary in Montgomery County, and 
Bladen Academy at Elizabethtown. 

In 1798 : Unity Academy in Randolph County, Adams 
Creek Academy in Craven County, Smithville Academy 
in Brunswick County, Salisbury Academy in Rowan 
County, and an academy in Guilford County. 

In 1799: Fayetteville Seminary in Cumberland 
County, Peasley Academy in Moore County, and Wil- 
liamsboro Franklin Library Society in Granville County. 

In 1800: Sneedsboro Academy in Anson County, and 
Edenton Academy at Edenton. 

In 1801: Union Meeting House Academy in Duplin 
County, Clio Montana Seminary in Rockingham 
County, and Raleigh Academy at Raleigh. 

In 1802: Franklin Academy in Franklin County, 

^ See Weeks, Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the 
Common Schools oj North Carolina. 



50 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Wadesboro Academy in Anson County, Caswell Acad- 
emy at Yanceyville and Spring Hill Seminary in Lenoir 
County. 

In 1804 : Cedar Grove Academy in Richmond County, 
Wilmington Academy at Wilmington and Nixonton 
Academy in Pasquotank County. 

In 1805: Philomathia Academy in Wilkes County, 
Hico Academy in Caswell County, Solemn Grove 
Academy in Moore County, Green Academy (later 
changed to Hookerton Academy) in Green County, and 
Union Hill Academy in Buncombe County. 

In 1806 : Oxford Academy in Rowan County, Windsor 
Academy in Bertie County, Mount Clio Academy in 
Robeson County, Rutherford Academy in Rutherford 
County, and Union Hall School in Perquimans County. 

In 1807: Trenton Academy in Jones County, Ports- 
mouth Academy in Carteret County, Indian Woods 
Academy in Bertie County, and Elizabeth City Acad- 
emy in Pasquotank County. 

In 1808: Washington Academy in Beaufort County, 
and Zion Parnassus Academy in Robeson County. 

In 1809: Onslow Academy in Onslow County, Thisbe 
Academy in Guilford County, Hertford Academy in 
Hertford County, Green Hill Academy in Haywood 
County, Laurel Hill Academy in Richmond County, 
Mount Parnassus Academy in Moore County, Fayette- 
ville Academy in Cumberland County, Newland Acad- 
emy in Pasquotank County, Vine Hill Academy in Hali- 
fax County, and Germantown Academy in Stokes 
County. 

In 1810: Carteret Academy in Carteret County, 
Jonesboro Academy in Camden County, Wilkesboro 
Academy in Wilkes County, Swansboro Academy in 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 51 

Onslow County, Springfield Academy in Halifax 
County, Poplar Tent Academy in Cabarrus County, 
Elizabethtown Academy in Bladen County, Plymouth 
Academy in Washington County, Montpelier Acad- 
emy in Granville County, Nutbush Mineral Springs 
Academy in Granville County, and the Waynesboro 
Academy. 

In 1811: Euphronean Academy in Moore County, 
Oxford Academy at Oxford, and New Providence 
Academy in Mecklenburg County. 

In 1812: Snow Hill Academy in Greene County, Phil- 
adelphus Academy in Robeson County, Rocky River 
Academy in Cabarrus County, and the Newbern 
Female Charitable Seminary at Newbern. 

In 1813: Greene Academy in Greene County, Goshen 
Academy in Duplin County, Tarboro Academy in Edge- 
combe County, Williamsboro Academy in Granville 
County, Pleasant Retreat Academy in Lincoln County, 
Female Orphan Asylum Society at Fayetteville, Mili- 
tary and Literary Society of Lenoir County, Free 
School in Wayne County, and the North Carolina Bible 
Society. 

In 1814: Union Academy in Halifax County, Green- 
ville Academy in Pitt County, Hillsboro Academy at 
Hillsboro, Rush Academy in Hyde County, Louisburg 
Female Academy at Louisburg, Free School in Duplin 
County, and Clio Academy in Iredell County. The 
name of this last institution was changed to Statesville 
Academy in 1815, It had been in existence many years 
prior to its chartering. 

In 1816: Williamston Academy in Martin County, 
Pleasant Grove Academy in Perquimans County, and 
Greensboro Academy at Greensboro. 



52 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

In 1817: Fairfield School in Lenoir County, New 
Prospect Academy in Perquimans County, Blakely 
Academy at Pittsboro, and the Female Benevolent 
Society at Wilmington. 

In 1818: Milton Female Academy in Caswell County, 
Wayne Academy in Wayne County, Jonesville Acad- 
emy in Surry County, Haywood Academy in Chatham 
County, Asheville Academy at Asheville, Lawrenceville 
Academy in Montgomery County, Hilliardston Acad- 
emy in Nash County, Forest Hill Academy in Wake 
County, Trenton Academy in Jones County, and Fe- 
male Academy in Orange County. 

In 1819: Enfield Academy in Halifax County, Cam- 
den Academy in Camden County, Wilkesboro Academy 
in Wilkes County, Smithfield Academy in Johnston 
County, Madison Academy in Rockingham County, 
Lumberton Academy in Tyrrell County, New Salem 
Library Society in Randolph County, and the Leaks- 
ville Female Academy. 

In 1820: Spring Hill Academy in Gates County, Con- 
cord Academy in Perquimans County, Shocco Female 
Academy in Warren County, Elizabeth City Academy 
in Pasquotank County, Farnewell Grove Academy in 
Halifax County, and Carraway Library Society in 
Randolph County. 

In 1821 : Lincolnton Female Academy at Lincolnton, 
Sardis Academy in Johnston County, Clinton Academy 
in Sampson County, Midway Academy in Franklin 
County, Union Library Society in Iredell County, 
Spring Grove Academy in Anson County, Halifax Acad- 
emy at Halifax, Raleigh Female Benevolent Society at 
Raleigh, Liberty Male Academy at Charlotte, and 
Charlotte Female Academy at Charlotte. 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 53 

In 1822: Ebenezer Academy in Iredell County, Cul- 
peper Academy in Anson County, Franklin Library 
Society at Hillsboro, Miltonsville Academy in Anson 
County, Hopewell Academy in Edgecombe County, 
Durham's Creek Academy in Beaufort County, Rich- 
land Creek Library Society in Guilford County, and the 
Shady Grove Male and Female Academy in Warren 
County. 

In 1823: Bertie Union Academy in Bertie County, 
Lumberton Academy in Robeson County, Milton Male 
Academy in Carteret County, Friendship Academy in 
Edgecombe County, Town Creek Academy in Edge- 
combe County, Sandy Creek Library Society in David- 
son County, Morganton Academy at Morganton, and 
the New Providence Library Company in Mecklenburg 
County. 

In 1824: Swansboro Academy in Onslow County, 
Wake Union Academy in Wake County, Clinton Li- 
brary Society in Stokes County, New Hope Academy 
in Randolph County, Davidson Academy in Montgom- 
ery County, Hillsboro Female Academy in Orange 
County, Mount Prospect Academy in Edgecombe 
County, and Harmony Grove Academy in Edgecombe 
County. 

In 1825: Line Academy in Sampson County, Colerain 
Academy in Bertie County, Williams Academy in Dup- 
lin County, Oak Grove Academy in Greene County, 
Pleasant Grove Academy in Edgecombe County, Lex- 
ington Academy at Lexington, Shady Grove Academy 
in Rockingham County, The Greensboro Library Soci- 
ety at Greensboro, The Farmers' Library Society of 
Northampton County, and the Abbott's Creek Library 
Society in Davidson County, 



54 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Similar new institutions continued to be chartered, or 
the charters of old academies were revised, from 1825 
until after the middle of the century or somewhat later. 
After 1850 the academy movement began to decline, and 
following the war a new type of school, the public high 
school, began to take its place. 

Several interesting features of the academy, such as 
the course of study, material equipment, methods of 
support, qualifications and salaries of teachers, and 
methods of teaching, at once suggest themselves. A 
brief discussion of these features will serve to show the 
institution as it actually operated in North Carolina.^ 

The curricula or courses of study offered in these 
schools show a wide range of subjects, Reading, writing, 
English grammar, geography, mathematics, and Latin 
and Greek were taught in an academy at Pittsboro in 
1800; the same subjects and bookkeeping were given in 
a school at Hillsboro in 1801; Latin, Greek, geography, 
arithmetic, natural and moral philosophy, astronomy, 
and reading and writing were taught in the Caswell 
Academy in 1802; the following year the boys in the 
Fayetteville Academy were studying reading, spelling, 
ciphering, English grammar, Nepos, Caesar, Sallust, 
and Virgil; and the girls were taught spelling, reading, 
English grammar, geography, letter-writing, copy- 
writing, ciphering, Dresden work, tambour work, and 
embroidery. 

In 1805 the Pittsboro Academy had classes in history, 
astronomy, and moral philosophy, and the same year 
the principal of the school at Louisburg, with the aid of 

^ For further interesting material on these subjects see Coon, North 
Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-18i0> A Documentary History, 
from which much of the present discussion is largely taken. 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 55 

one assistant, "advertised to teach belles-lettres, rheto- 
ric, ethics, metaphysics, Hebrew, French, Italian, alge- 
bra, geometry, trigonometry, conic sections, surveying, 
natural philosophy, astronomy, navigation, mensura- 
tion, altimetry, longimetry, Latin, and Greek, in addi- 
tion to reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and 
English grammar." 

The Salisbury Academy in 1807 had classes in Vir- 
gil's Eclogues, Nepos, Erasmus, geography, reading, 
parsing, catechism, arithmetic, writing, and composi- 
tion. Reading, writing, and spelling were required 
subjects, and Latin, French, music, painting, and nee- 
dle-work were electives, for the girls in the Raleigh Acad- 
emy in 1811. The course offered for the boys in the 
same school in that year "possibly required more time 
and work to complete than is now required to complete 
our elementary and high-school courses. The Latin 
course included grammar, Corderii, Csesar, Ovid, Virgil, 
Odes of Horace, and Cicero. The Greek course em- 
braced the grammar and Greek Testament. In mathe- 
matics, Euclid, arithmetic, and surveying were re- 
quired. In English, grammar, parsing, and geography 
were taught." 

In 1818 the principal of the Salisbury Academy of- 
fered to "teach all the branches of English, classical, 
mathematical and philosophical literature which are 
taught in universities, together with the French lan- 
guage, if required." The same year Miss Rachel Prend- 
ergast advertised that the "following sciences" would be 
taught at "A Female Seminary" in Caswell County: 
"Orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, English 
grammar, needlework, drawing, painting, embroidery, 
geography and the use of the maps, also scanning po- 



66 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

etry." In 1822, grammar and parsing, belles-lettres, 
geography, chemistry, botany, natural philosophy, 
astronomy, Latin, Greek, music, dancing, drawing, and 
painting, as well as the rudiments of learning, were 
taught in the Oxford Female Seminary. 

The physical equipment of most of these schools was 
far from modern and adequate, though creditable build- 
ings were now and then found. During this period the 
State was very sparsely settled, and agriculture was the 
principal pursuit of the population. Urban communi- 
ties, therefore, developed slowly. As a rule the school 
buildings were of wood, though occasionally in the 
larger towns a brick building could be found. Black- 
boards were very rare and modern school furniture was 
also practically unknown. Maps were frequently re- 
ported as in use and occasionally a school could be found 
using a globe and "some geometrical apparatus." In 
1826, the Salem Boys' School had "received a chemical 
and philosophical apparatus and mineralogical cabinet." 
In 1835, the Leasburg Classical School was "furnished 
with globes, maps, pianos, a collection of geographical 
specimens, and a chemical apparatus." Two years later 
the Northampton Academy advertised "an entirely new 
mathematical and philosophical apparatus." Libraries 
in the schools were slow in developing. 

The schools were supported by tuition charges based, 
usually, on the age of the pupils or the subjects taught. 
The salaries of the teachers also varied. Franklin Acad- 
emy, at Louisburg, illustrates both the tuition charged 
the pupils and the salary paid the teacher. In 1805 the 
trustees of that institution advertised that 

each student shall pay to the treasurer of the academy ten 
dollars per annum, for instruction in reading, writing, arithme- 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 57 

tic, English grammar, geography, belles lettres, and rhetoric; 
and sixteen dollars for instruction in ethics and metaphysics, 
the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French and Italian languages, and 
the higher branches of metaphysics and philosophy, viz. alge- 
bra, geometry, trigonometry, conic sections, altimetry, longim- 
etry, mensuration of superficies and solids, surveying, naviga- 
tion, natural philosophy, and astronomy. 

According to a diary of the time, Matthew Dickinson, 
a Yale man, who became principal of the school in 1805, 
was taken care of and prospered on his salary and a 
judicious management of his income : — 

Mr. D. has acquired a very decent little estate since he first 
came here 4 years ago. He thinks himself worth between six 
and seven thousand dollars. The first year he had about seven 
hundred dollars — the next, the avails of his school 1000 
Dlls. — the next they amounted to 1500 and the last year to 
1200. Besides this too he pays an Usher (Mayhew from Wms. 
Col.) 300 Dlls. But he has improved opportunities to speculate 
by lending say 600 Dlls. cash to a young Sportsman and taking 
a Bond for 1000. TUl lately he owned a house and farm of 
more than three hundred acres, six slaves, and a quantity of 
stock, as horses, sheep and cattle. Lately he sold his land for 
4000 Dlls. which was one thousand more than it cost him. He 
now keeps a Gig, two horses and a servant or two and designs 
in the spring to visit Conn, in this style. Dickinson says liter- 
ature is much respected in these parts and literary men rever- 
enced. The first year he came when he had no property and 
nothing to recommend him but his books and education, he 
received flattering testimonials of respect and was treated with 
equal civility as at present.^ 

This remuneration was perhaps somewhat higher than 
many of the teachers received, however. David Ker re- 
ceived four hundred dollars for teaching and an addi- 
tional four hundred dollars for preaching while he was 
principal of the Fayetteville Academy, in 1794. In 

^^ Coon, op. cit., pp. 84, 89, 90. 



58 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

1826, a principal was sought for the Raleigh Academy to 
succeed the Reverend Doctor McPheeters, who was 
retiring after sixteen years' service. The salary offered 
was eight hundred dollars and a house and garden rent 
free. In the same year, Miss Mariah Allen received a 
salary of five hundred dollars as principal of a female 
academy at Lincolnton.^ 

The teachers in these academies and schools were in 
the main well trained and ably equipped, though few, if 
any, had received professional training for teaching. 
The influence of the graduates of the state university 
is early seen in the schools. The first graduating class 
of that institution in 1798 numbered seven, and as 
early as 1801 Andrew Flinn, an A.B. graduate of the 
college, became principal of the Hillsboro Academy; 
many other graduates had charge of schools and acade- 
mies in the State throughout the period under discus- 
sion. The influence of Presbyterian ministers and 
Princeton graduates was also more or less extensive. 
There were also graduates of several other Northern 
and Eastern colleges and of European institutions en- 
gaged in teaching in these schools during the early 
decades of the nineteenth century.'* 

Advanced methods of teaching were not generally 
practiced in these institutions, though the few glimpses 
which we get of their conduct occasionally indicate 
more or less creditable and thorough teaching with em- 
phasis now on one thing and now on another. In the 
Salisbury Academy in 1807 particular attention was 
"paid to the grammatical construction of the English 
language, to reading and spelling it correctly, and to 
writing a fair hand." In 1810 in a school in Warrenton, 
* Coon, op. cit., pp. 483, 206. * Ibid., Introduction. 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 69 

kept by Jacob Mordecai with the assistance of his son 
and daughters, "the beauties of such authors as Addison 
and Pope are unfolded to the pupils in so interesting and 
engaging a manner that the taste is generally chastened 
and refined to the standard of classic purity. The mind 
is elevated superior to the enjoyment of silly novels, 
which but too often deprave the taste, corrupt the heart, 
and enfeeble the understanding." The students here 
were also taught both to read and compose music. In 
many of the schools memorizing the rules of English 
grammar and of arithmetic seems to have been a popular 
method of teaching these subjects. Some girls in a fe- 
male academy at Charlotte "who began to memorize 
grammar since the commencement of the session, parsed 
blank verse with uncommon ease and propriety" in an 
examination in 1822. Classes in the schools at Lincoln- 
ton in 1827 were examined on "memorizing English 
grammar" and on "reciting the rules of arithmetic." 
Considerable attention seems to have been given to 
Latin and Greek prosody, and scanning English poetry 
was considered helpful to the students. So prevalent 
was the practice of emphasizing syntax and etymology 
in a study of the classics that Judge Archibald D. Mur- 
phey, celebrated in the educational history of the State 
for his efforts to promote popular education, severely 
criticized the custom in 1827. Geography seems to have 
been taught largely by memorizing names of places: 
"questions were asked rapidly, passing from one section 
of the globe to the other," is the description of an exami- 
nation in one school. 

References to the early use of blackboards are very 
few in the documents dealing with these schools. In 
1835, however, "a visitor admired the facility with 



60 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

which ten- and twelve-year-old boys solved problems in 
interest and the rule of three on the blackboard" in the 
Raleigh Academy. Another reference is in a criticism of 
a teacher in a school for girls at Asheboro in 1839 for not 
using "the blackboard in teaching arithmetic. If a small 
school like Asheboro had blackboards in 1839, it is more 
than likely that blackboards were in common use in the 
schools of this State before 1840." ^ In spite of this 
criticism, however, it appears that the teacher, a Miss 
Rea, from Boston, was a successful instructor. Her 
methods are interesting. Her pupils were 

taught the four principal divisions in arithmetic orally before 
they make use of a slate. ... I understand that great pains is 
taken by the tutoress to make the pupils understand the prin- 
ciples and reasons of their operations. They are not permitted 
to pore over a question they can't understand, for an hour or 
two together . . . she is equally careful that they thoroughly 
understand everything they pass over. She is not content that 
a pupil can answer a question in the identical words of the book: 
by oral illustration and conversation she satisfies herself that 
the pupil understands the principles correctly.^ 

A few schools had features of the Lancaster system of 
instruction. The first Lancaster school established in the 
State was at Fayetteville in 1814, and the same year 
another was begun in Wake County to which children 
imable to pay for the instruction were admitted free of 
charge. In February of the following year a Lancaster 
school was opened in Raleigh where poor children were 
taught free of tuition charges. By November the en- 
rollment was more than one hundred pupils. Many of 
these who, before entering the school, "did not know a 
letter in the book," were in a short time able to "read, 
write, have some knowledge of figures, and can repeat by 
* Coon, op. dt.. Introduction. * Ibid., pp. 339, 340. 



THE ACADEMY MOVEMENT 61 

heart a number of moral verses. Some, indeed, have ob- 
tained a considerable knowledge of English grammar 
and geography." In 1822 there was a Lancaster school 
near Charlotte, which was also training teachers on this 
system of teaching, and one in Iredell County. The 
Newbern Academy seems to have had a department 
conducted on this system of education in 1822.^ 



REFERENCES 

Brown, E. E., The Making of Our Middle Schools; Dexter, 
History of Education in the United States; Brown, J. F., The 
American High School; Coon, North Carolina Schools and Acad- 
emies, 1790-18 IfO, A Documentary History; Cyclopedia of Edu- 
cation, edited by Paul Monroe, vol. i, article, "Academies"; 
Weeks, Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the 
Common Schools of North Carolina; Raper, The Church and 
Private Schools in North Carolina; Smith, History of Education 
in North Carolina. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What conditions gave rise to the academy in England? 

2. What influence did the Act of Uniformity, as renewed in 
1662, have on the development of education in England? 

3. What conditions gave rise to the academy in the United 
States? 

4. How did the early American academy resemble the acad- 
emy which developed in England in the seventeenth 
century? 

5. How did the early American academy resemble the Latin 
Grammar School of colonial days? - ; 

6. In what respects was it similar to our modern public high 
school? 

7. Why is the American public high school frequently 
spoken of as the "people's college"? 

* Coon, op. cit.. Introduction. 



62 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

8. How does the American high school reflect American 
character? 

9. Make a study of any academies established in your 
county, noting their management, equipment, curricu- 
lum, qualifications of their teachers, and methods of 
teaching, and compare these features with similar fea- 
tures of any high schools in your county at the present 
time. 

10. How late did academies flourish in your county.'' What 
caused their decline? In what instances were they 
absorbed by public high schools? 

11. How do the courses of study offered in many of the acad- 
emies in North Carolina (see pages 54-56) compare with 
the curriculum of the high schools of your county to-day? 

12. Is there any evidence that the so-caUed modern subjects, 
such as domestic science and domestic art, manual train- 
ing, and other practical subjects, were being taught in 
academies in North Carolina before the Civil War? 

13. How sound do you consider the methods of teaching in 
use in the girls' school at Asheboro in 1839, described on 
page 60? 



CHAPTER V 

THE EARLY AGITATION (1776-1825) 

North Carolina was not only the first of the States 
adopting secession to work out prior to the war a credit- 
able system of primary schools, but it developed the 
best system to be found in the entire South in 1860. 
This educational achievement was early recognized. 
Just before the war Superintendent Calvin H. Wiley 
said in commenting on the success and influence of the 
schools: — 

The educational system of North Carolina is now attracting 
the favorable attention of the States south, west, and north of 
us. . . • All modern statistical publications give us a rank far 
in advance of the position which we occupied in such works a 
few years ago; and without referring to numerous other facts 
equally significant, our moral influence may be illustrated by 
the fact that the superintendent of common schools was press- 
ingly invited to visit, free of expense, the legislature of the 
most powerful State south of us [Georgia], to aid in preparing 
a system of public instruction similar to ours. He receives 
constant inquiries from abroad in regard to our plan; and be- 
yond all doubt our schools, including those of all grades, are 
now the greatest temporal interest of the State. . . . North 
Carolina has the start of aU her Southern sisters in educational 
matters. ... If, then, she is true to herself, and justly compre- 
hends the plain logic of the facts of her situation, she will now 
. . . prudently and courageously advance in the direction 
which leads alike to safety, to peace, and to prosperity. . . . 
Such action is not merely important as likely to lead to future 
greatness; it is also a defensive and imperative necessity of the 
present. If the Union remains, no one will deny the impor- 
tance, to our peace as well as honor, of having a strong and 



64 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

prosperous State, able to command the respect of her confed- 
erates; if the Union is dissolved, then North Carolina is our 
only country for the present, and our present security and 
future hopes will depend on her power to stand alone or honor- 
ably to compete with rivals in a new confederacy. 

Later it was said of North Carolina's ante-bellum edu- 
cational success : — 

As it was, during the half-century under consideration — 
1790-1840 — this State did make an educational record, if not 
in some respects so brilliant as Virginia, yet beyond the Old 
Dominion, more decided at first, more steady in the upbuild- 
ing of secondary education, and, at the close, 1835-1840, was 
able to place on the ground, beyond dispute, the best system 
of public instruction in the fourteen Southern States east of 
the Mississippi previous to the outbreak of the Civil War.* 

The development of the ideal of public education in 
the State was slow, though it began early and grew 
steadily. The first significant step in the growth of this 
ideal was the adoption in 1776 of a constitutional provi- 
sion for legislative establishment of schools and for a 
university. This provision of the constitution, which 
was adopted in December of that year and which was 
practically a literal copy of a section of the constitution 
of Pennsylvania, adopted three months earlier, was: — 

That a school or schools shall be established by the Legisla- 
ture for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries 
to the masters, paid by the public, as may enable them to in- 
struct at low prices; and all useful learning shall be duly en- 
couraged and promoted in one or more universities. 

This provision was continued in the revised consti- 
tution of 1835. 

The university was chartered in 1789 and organized 

* Report of the United States Commissioner of Educaiion, 1895-96, 
p. 282. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 65 

six years later, graduating its first class in 1798. With 
this exception, however, no legislation was enacted for 
public education until 1825 when an act was passed 
creating a literary fund. And with the exception of this 
action it was nearly fifty years from the organization of 
the university to the passage of the first public-school 
law of the State, in January, 1839. 

There were many conditions which prevented an 
earlier obedience to the educational mandate of the 
constitution. Leaders in the State believed in the civil- 
izing influences of schools and colleges and embodied 
that conviction in as substantial and effective activity 
as conditions would allow. But the terms of the consti- 
tution itself were more or less uncertain and variously 
interpreted by those who really had an earnest interest 
in promoting the cause of public schools. To some the 
constitutional provision meant that the Legislature 
should establish public free schools and provide for their 
maintenance by state taxation, while others believed 
that it was intended to give authority for legislative aid 
to private schools and academies. This latter interpreta- 
tion was so general that frequent petitions were pre- 
sented to the Assembly for aid of such schools, but they 
were invariably refused; and in 1803 a bill for establish- 
ing an academy in each district, to be maintained by the 
public, was also defeated. Another condition which 
hindered legislative action was the fear of taxation, in- 
herited perhaps from colonial days. Taxation, it was 
argued, was designed in a republican form of govern- 
ment to defray its legitimate and necessary expenses, 
and the less the tax, the more ideal the government. 
Such a theory naturally stifled the proper conception of 
education in a democracy. Moreover, the intrusion of 



66 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the State into the parental obligation was considered by 
some as dangerous and agrarian. To others, the element 
of charity read into a public-school system seemed hu- 
miliating — an attitude which cooled local pride and 
community patriotism. Besides, lack of communication 
between the eastern and the western counties produced 
sectional jealousies which unhappily prevented the de- 
velopment of a common educational interest. The entire 
absence of proper qualifications and a resulting lacic of 
professional spirit among the teachers of the State also 
delayed the beginnings of a movement for popular edu- 
cation. Compared with many other pursuits, teaching 
was popularly considered contemptible.^ 

Agitation of a movement to establish a common- 
school system, however, began early after the opening of 
the national period. Many public-spirited men looked be- 
yond the narrownesses, delusions, and jealousies which 
prevailed in the State and considered the larger interests 
of the whole people. Lack of educational facilities for 
the masses made a keen appeal to such leaders, who be- 
lieved that legislative action should be sought to im- 
prove the pathetic condition. As early as 1802 Governor 
Williams recommended to the Legislature a provision, 
"through adequate and suitable means, for a general 
diffusion of learning and science throughout the State" 
so that the people could duly "appreciate and properly 
understand and defend, their natural, civil, and political 
rights." In 1803 Governor Turner urged "the establish- 
ment of schools in every part of the State. Education 
is the mortal enemy to arbitrary governments, and the 
surest basis of liberty and equal right." The following 

^ Coon, Public Education in North Carolina, 1790-18 JtO, A Docu- 
mentary History, vol. i, p. 560. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 67 

year he desired to see "a plan of education introduced, 
which will extend itself to every corner of the State," to 
be maintained by public taxation, which "every citizen 
will be willing and desirous to contribute toward an ex- 
pense so well applied." In 1805 he again urged a general 
and effective legislative plan of educational action. 
Schools and the means of education were sorely needed 
and they could not prosper if left to individual effort, 
he argued. 

Governor Alexander likewise, in his message in 1806 
and again in 1807, made similar recommendations, 
which were urged by Governor Williams in 1808 and by 
Governor Stone in 1809 and in 1810. Governor Stone's 
enumeration of some advantages to be derived from the 
establishment of a judicious plan of education in the 
State is interesting. Among other advantages such a 
plan would "relieve parents from much of the anxiety 
and uneasiness of distant separation from their chil- 
dren," and would "save a considerable amount of our 
circulating medium among strangers." Moreover, it 
would 

prevent the impression upon the minds of our youth, of unrea- 
sonable predilections in favor of alien institutions and man- 
ners, as well as of prejudices against those of our own State, 
and against the condition of society, of which their interest 
and duty require them to become members. . . . Attach the 
respect, gratitude, and reverence of our own youth to persons 
and places within our own limits, as being their guides to 
science and virtue. . . . 

He advocated the education of both boys and girls : — 

I trust we shall never consider our task as finished, until 
preparation shall be made, and opportunity afiforded for the 
most obscure members of society to procure such a portion of 



68 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

instruction for their offspring, as shall enable them satisfac- 
torily to discharge the most important duties of society. 

Governor Benjamin Smith, in his message in 1811, 
said : — 

Too much attention cannot be paid to the all-important 
subject of education. In despotic governments, where the 
supreme power is in possession of a tyrant or divided among 
an hereditary aristocracy (generally corrupt and wicked), the 
ignorance of the people is a security to their rulers; ^ but in a 
free government, where the offices and honors of the State are 
open to all, the superiority of their political privileges should 
be infused into every citizen from their earliest infancy, so as 
to produce an enthusiastic attachment to their own country, 
and insure a jealous support of their own constitution, laws, 
and government. A certain degree of education should be 
placed within the reach of every child of the State; and I am 
persuaded a plan may be formed upon economical principles 
that would extend this down to the poor of every neighbor- 
hood, at an expense trifling beyond expectation, when compared 
with the incalculable benefits from such a philanthropic and 
politic system. . . . 

Governor William Hawkins in 1812 and Governor 
Miller in 1815 recommended legislative establishment 
of schools. " It is under the hand of legislative patronage 
alone that the temple of science can be thrown open to 
all," declared Governor Miller. However, beyond refer- 

^ In this connection it is interesting to recall the type of argument 
advanced early in the nineteenth century against governmental aid 
to education in England: "In a free nation where slaves are not al- 
lowed of, the surest wealth consists in a multitude of laborious poor; 
for besides that they are the never-failing nursery of fleets and armies, 
without them there could be no enjoyment, and no product of any 
country would be valuable. To make the society happy and people 
easy under the meanest circumstances, it is requisite that great num- 
bers should be ignorant as well as poor. Knowledge both enlarges and 
multiplies our desires, and the fewer things man wishes for, the more 
easily his necessity may be supplied." (See Adams, History of the Ele- 
mentary School Contest in England, p. 46.) 



THE EARLY AGITATION 69 

ring the recommendation to a joint committee of both 
houses, the first Committee on Education appointed in 
the Legislature, no action was taken by the Assembly. 
The following year Governor Miller again called atten- 
tion to the same subject and urged the adoption of some 
plan by which educational facilities could be afforded 
to all the youth of the State. At the same time he pro- 
posed the establishment of a fund for school support: 
"The example set in a neighboring State, in establishing 
funds for the advancement of literature and internal 
improvements, seems well worthy of imitation." ^ 

That part of the message which related to education 
was referred to a committee of which Archibald D. Mur- 
phey. Senator from Orange County, whose work in pro- 
moting public education in the State won for him the 
name of "father of the common schools," was made 
chairman. The result was an interesting report, written 
by Murphey, in which the democratic theory of popu- 
lar education was thoroughly elaborated. The report 
pointed out that the education of the youth of the State 
was then left to chance, and that thousands of children 
were growing up in ignorance. The strength of the State 
resided in its people, who should be educated at public 
expense without distinction of class. The Legislature, 
the report continued, was then able to appropriate half 
a million dollars for maintaining a general system of 
public instruction. In concluding, Murphey recom- 
mended the appointment of a legislative committee of 
three to digest a system of education based on the 
general principles of the report, to be submitted at the 
next session. 

Two reports were presented at this session: one, 
* Virginia established a literary fund in 1810. 



70 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

dated December 6, 1817, and presented December 8, 
was signed by John M. Walker, a member of the com- 
mittee, who had been "unable to communicate with 
the other members"; and another, dated November 27, 
1817, and presented two days later, was signed by Mur- 
phey. Walker's report recommended that provision be 
made for training a sufficient number of teachers to 
reduce by competition charges of tuition so that educa- 
tion could be put within reach of all the children of the 
State. The education of the poor, the report declared, 
was of first importance. 

The elaborate report by Murphey was more signifi- 
cant, however, in that it marked the dawn of a new edu- 
cational era in North Carolina, and became the basis of 
the system of public instruction finally established in 
1839. The report was presented after a careful study of 
the best systems of education in this country and in Eu- 
rope and embodied the best of the practicable features 
revealed by the investigation. It outlined a general plan 
of public instruction which included, a literary fund. 
Provision was also made for a state board of education 
to manage the fund and to superintend the school sys- 
tem; for the state university, for academies, and primary 
schools, and their organization and course of study; 
and provision for the education of the poor and for an 
asylum for the deaf and dumb. The primary schools 
were considered of first importance in the plan, and one 
or more of these was to be established in each township. 
Since it is this degree of education which is of most in- 
terest here, that part of the plan may be given in 
full: — 

That each county in this State be divided into two or more 
townships; and that one or more primary schools be estab- 



THE EARLY AGITATION 71 

Hshed in each township, provided a lot of ground not less than 
four acres and a sufficient house erected thereon, be provided 
and vested in the board of public instruction. And that every 
incorporated town in the State, containing more than one hun- 
dred families, shall be divided into wards. Such town contain- 
ing less than one hundred families shall be considered as form- 
ing only one ward. Each ward, upon conveying to the board 
of public instruction a lot of ground of the value of two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars, shall be entitled to the benefits and privi- 
leges of a primary school. 

The court of pleas and quarter sessions shall annually elect 
for each township, in their respective counties, five persons as 
trustees of the primary schools to be established in such 
county, who shall have power to fix the sites of the primary 
schools to be established thereon, superintend and manage the 
same, make rules for their government, appoint trustees, ap- 
point teachers, and remove them at pleasure. They shall se- 
lect such children residing in their township, whose parents 
are unable to pay for their schooling, who shall be taught at 
the said schools for three years without charge. They shall 
report to the board of public instruction, the rules which they 
may adopt for the government of said schools, and shall an- 
nually report to the said board the state of the schools, the 
number and conduct of the pupils educated at the public ex- 
pense, such books, stationery, and other implements for 
learning as may be necessary. 

The teacher of each primary school shall receive a salary of 
one hundred dollars, to be paid out of the fund for public 
instruction. 

This plan for establishing primary schools is simple, and can 
easily be carried into execution. It divides the expenses of 
these schools between the public and those individuals for 
whose immediate benefit they are established; it secures a 
regular stipend to the teachers, and yet holds out inducements 
to them to be active and faithful in their calling ; and it enables 
every neighborhood, whether the number of its inhabitants be 
few or many, to have a primary school, at the cheap price of a 
small lot of ground, and a house erected thereon, sufficient for 
the purpose of the school. Were these schools in full opera- 
tion in every section of the State, even in the present state of 



72 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

our population, more than fifteen thousand children would 
annually be taught in them. These schools would be to the 
rich a convenience, and to the poor, a blessing. 

The plan provided for the following course of study in 
the primary schools : — 

In the primary schools should be taught reading, writing, 
and arithmetic. A judicious selection of books should from 
time to time be made by the board of public instruction for 
the use of small children; books which shall excite their curi- 
osity and improve their moral dispositions. And the board 
should be empowered to compile and have printed, for the use 
of primary schools, such books as they may think will best sub- 
serve the purposes of intellectual and moral instruction. In 
these books should be contained many of the historical parts 
of the Old and New Testaments, that children may early be 
made acquainted with the books which contain the word of 
truth, and the doctrines of eternal life. 

It is interesting to note the method of teaching which 
was also recommended : — 

The great object of education is intellectual and moral im- 
provement; and that mode of instruction is to be preferred 
which best serves to effect this object. That mode is to be 
found only in a correct knowledge of the human mind, its 
habits, passions, and manner of operation. The philosophy of 
the mind, which in ages preceding has been cultivated only in 
its detached branches has of late years received form and sys- 
tem in the schools of Scotland. This new science promises the 
happiest results. It has sapped the foundation of skepticism 
by establishing the authority of those primitive truths and in- 
tuitive principles which form the basis of all demonstration; it 
has taught to man the extent of his intellectual powers, and 
marking the line which separates truth from hypothetical 
conjecture, has pointed out to his view the boundaries which 
Providence has prescribed to inquiries. It has determined the 
laws of the various faculties of the mind, and furnished a sys- 
tem of philosophic logic for conducting our inquiries in every 
branch of knowledge. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 73 

This new science has given birth to new methods of instruc- 
tion; methods which, being founded upon a correct knowledge 
of the faculties of the mind, have eminently facilitated their 
development. Pestalozzi, of Switzerland, and Joseph Lancas- 
ter, of England, seem to have been most successful in the appli- 
cation of new methods to the instruction of the children. Their 
methods are diflferent, but each is founded upon a profound 
knowledge of the human mind. The basis of each method is, 
the excitement of the curiosity of children; thereby awakening 
their minds and preparing them to receive instruction. The 
success which has attended the application of their methods, 
particularly that of Lancaster, has been astonishing. Although 
but very few years have elapsed since Lancastrian [sic] schools 
were first established, they have spread over the British Em- 
pire, extended into the continent of Europe, the Island of St. 
Domingo, and the United States. Various improvements in 
the details of his plan have been suggested by experience and 
adopted; and it is probable that in time, his will become the 
universal mode of instruction for children. The Lancastrian 
[sic] plan is equally distinguished by its simplicity, its facility 
of application, the rapid intellectual improvement which it 
gives, and the exact discipline which it enforces. The moral 
effects of the plan are also astonishing; exact and correct 
habits are the surest safeguards of morals; and it has often 
been remarked, that out of the immense number of children 
and grown persons instructed in Lancaster's schools, few, very 
few have ever been prosecuted in a court of justice for any 
offense. Your committee do, therefore, recommend that, 
whenever it be practicable, the Lancastrian [sic] mode of in- 
struction may be successfully introduced into the primary 
schools. The general principles of this method may be suc- 
cessfully introduced into the academies and university; and 
your committee indulge the hope that the board of public 
instruction, and the professors and teachers in these respective 
institutions, will use their best endeavors to adopt and enforce 
the best methods of instruction which the present state of 
knowledge will enable them to devise. 

The plan which the report recommended for the edu- 
cation of poor children is also of interest: — 



74 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

One of the strongest reasons which we can have for estab- 
lishing a general plan of public instruction, is the condition of 
the poor children of our country. Such has always been and 
probably always will be the allotment of human life, that the 
poor will form a large portion of every community; and it is 
the duty of those who manage the affairs of a State to extend 
relief to this unfortunate part of our species in every way in 
their power. 

Providence, in the impartial distribution of its favors, 
whilst it has denied to the poor many of the comforts of life, 
has generally bestowed upon them the blessing of intelligent 
children. Poverty is the school of genius; it is a school in which 
the active powers of man are developed and disciplined, and in 
which that moral courage has acquired, which enables him to 
toil with difficulties, privations, and want. From this school 
generally come forth those men who act the principal parts 
upon the theater of life; men who impress a character upon the 
age in which forms grow up in it. The State should take this 
school under her special care, and nurturing the genius which 
there grows in rich luxuriance, give to it an honorable and 
profitable direction. Poor children are the peculiar property 
of the State, and by proper cultivation they will constitute a 
fund of intellectual and moral worth which will greatly sub- 
serve the public interest. Your committee have therefore en- 
deavored to provide for the education of all poor children in 
the primary schools; they have also provided for the advance- 
ment into the academies and university of such of those chil- 
dren cs are most distinguished for genius and give the best 
assurance of future usefulness. For three years they are to be 
educated in the primary schools free of charge; the portion of 
them who shall be selected for further advancement shall, 
during the whole course of their future education, be clothed, 
fed, and taught at the public expense. The number of children 
who are to be thus advanced, will depend upon the state of the 
fund set apart for public instruction, and your committee 
think it will be most advisable to leave the number to the dis- 
cretion of the board, who shall have charge of the fund; and 
also to leave to them the providing of some just and particular 
mode of advancing this number from the primary schools to 
the academies, and from the academies to the university. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 75 

The scheme as outlined met the hearty support of 
the Assembly, and a bill, based on the report, was ac- 
cordingly prepared and presented. The proposed legis- 
lation passed its first reading in both houses and then 
disappeared from the records. The impracticable fea- 
ture of attempting to maintain as well as to educate the 
children of the poor, and the burdens of the war debt of 
1812, were among the factors combining to defeat the 
scheme which "embraced the profoundest and most 
comprehensive educational wisdom ever presented for 
the consideration of a North Carolina Legislature." 
The friends of the proposed plan were unwilling to 
eliminate the impracticable features and legislative 
enactment of the bill proved an impossibility. 

There is a certain interesting similarity between the 
general plan of education proposed in North Carolina 
at this time and the plan offered by the literary board 
to the Legislature of Virginia in 1817, which compre- 
hended a university, colleges, academies, and primary 
schools. By that plan the counties were to be divided 
into townships in each of which a primary school was 
to be established. The teacher, selected by local trus- 
tees, could receive pupils, other than those to be edu- 
cated free of charge, at rates to be decided on by the 
trustees. The privilege was given of using "the new 
mode of teaching, invented by Lancaster." A bill con- 
formable to the recommendations of this plan was 
presented to the Assembly and passed in the House 
of Delegates by a vote of 66 to 49. But it was defeated 
in the Senate, the vote standing 7 to 7. This was in 
February, 1817. This plan and the bill based on it had 
been "diligently examined" by and had obviously 
influenced the Murphey committee. Both reports and 



76 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the bills based on them finally met practically the same 
fate. 

Although this attempt to establish schools failed, agi- 
tation of the subject did not cease. Governor Branch, 
in his message to the Legislature in 1818, referred es- 
pecially to the "solemn injunction" of the constitution, 
and reminded that body that "by this chart we are 
bound, as the servants of the people under the solemni- 
ties of an oath, to steer the vessel of state." Assembly 
committees on education continued to be appointed. 
During this session of the Legislature, William Martin, 
of Pasquotank County, a member of the Senate Com- 
mittee on Education, introduced a bill to establish and 
regulate schools in the several counties of the State. 
By the plan proposed schools were to be established in 
each military district. The county courts were to ap- 
point "five persons of competent skill and ability" to 
have direction of school affairs in the various counties. 
Three local trustees, to be appointed by these county 
directors, were to employ the teacher and "designate 
such poor children in their neighborhood as they shall 
think ought to be taught free of any charge." These 
poor children were also to receive free books and sta- 
tionery. The expenses of the schools were to be borne 
by a property tax of ten cents on the hundred dollars 
valuation and a capitation tax of fifty cents to be levied 
in each county. Each teacher was to be paid an annual 
salary of one hundred dollars^from the county funds and 
also receive two thirds of the money collected from 
tuition. The bill passed its first reading in both houses, 
and passed its second reading in the Senate by a vote of 
53 to 2, but on its second reading in the House it was 
postponed indefinitely. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 77 

Governor Branch in 1819 again called attention to the 
need for legislative action, declaring that the education 
of the youth of the State was a question which claimed 
attention above all others. In the same year an article 
in the Blakely Gazette pointed out that there was a pre- 
vailing sentiment in the State in favor of a general 
system of education, but that the sparse population 
rendered difficult the execution of any plan. Moreover, 
there was a diversity of opinion as to how schools should 
be supported. The Senate Committee on Education, to 
which had been referred that part of the Governor's 
message which concerned schools, made an interesting 
report at this time which suggested state aid for schools 
and the establishment of a school fund for educational 
purposes. 

The question received no legislative consideration 
again until 1822, when Governor Gabriel Holmes ad- 
dressed the Assembly somewhat at length on the sub- 
ject. He urged obedience to the constitutional injunc- 
tion to establish schools. "I fear, gentlemen, if those 
venerable fathers were to rise from their tombs, they 
would reproach us with supineness and neglect, and 
would not listen to our plea of want of power. We shall 
never know what power we have until we exert it." 
He also believed that agricultural education was seri- 
ously neglected, and urged attention to the demands of 
this form of training. His message had a slight effect : it 
was proposed that taxes on auctioneers be used to assist 
academies in the State, and a resolution was adopted 
which looked to securing educational aid from the na- 
tional government. But both of the efforts failed. 

In 1823 Governor Holmes again referred to the need 
for agricultural education and recommended the pur- 



78 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

chase of a small farm near the university to serve as a 
model for scientific and practical farming. At this ses- 
sion of the Assembly, J. A. Hill, of New Hanover 
County, introduced a resolution in the House to author- 
ize the committee on education to inquire "into the ex- 
pediency of establishing" a school system in accordance 
with the requirement of the constitution. In that same 
year the Western Carolinian editorially commented on 
the legislative neglect of education, pointed out that the 
great mass of the people of the State were deficient in 
the rudiments of education, and declared that "No ap- 
propriation which the Legislature could make would be 
so little objected to as one for the support of common 
schools. We do hope some member will make an experi- 
ment this session, and see what can be done in the Leg- 
islature on this subject." No legislative action was 
taken, however. 

With the year 1824 there appeared an educational 
sentiment more vigorous and widespread than had 
before been seen, though the Legislature took no for- 
ward steps educationally. In his message to the Assem- 
bly Governor Holmes regretted that in spite of a treas- 
ury "abounding in gold and silver . . . collected from 
the people," no appropriation had been made for 
schools. 

Surely, then, we cannot, consistent with good policy, hesi- 
tate to create a fund that will assist the parents of every denom- 
ination to initiate their offspring in elementary rudiments of 
learning. . . . The people are industrious and patriotic; they 
cheerfully subscribe to the necessary demands of the State 
upon their purse, without a murmur. They would gladly re- 
ceive and greatly acknowledge your patronage for the im- 
provement of their families. They have a right fully to antici- 
pate your fostering care. . . . 



THE EARLY AGITATION 79 

Although he touched "the chord with almost hopeless 
expectations and frigid indifference," an unexpected 
response came in the form of an interesting report from 
the Senate Committee on Education. This report spoke 
eloquently of the evils of ignorance and of the advan- 
tages of "a general diffusion of useful knowledge" and 
concluded that the talents of the poor of the State should 
especially be provided for, since the wealthy already had 
the means of education. On this report was based a bill 
which proposed to create a fund for educational pur- 
poses. It was introduced by Charles A. Hill, of Franklin 
County, chairman of the Senate Committee, and bore 
the title, "A bill to create a fund for educating that part 
of the infant population of the State who shall from 
time to time be found destitute of the means of becom- 
ing otherwise properly taken care of in that particular." 
The sources of the fund were to be certain bank stock to 
be acquired by the State and certain license taxes. The 
management of the fund was also provided for in the 
bill. It passed the Senate on its third reading by a vote 
of 38 to 16, but was indefinitely postponed in the House 
without a division December 30. 

Similar action was later taken in this body on a bill 
introduced by Samuel P. Ashe, of Cumberland County, 
which provided for a fund and a plan for the education 
of the poor children in the various counties of the State. 
By this bill schools were to be established in every county 
and were to be maintained by an annual appropriation 
from the state treasury which was to be apportioned by 
ofiicials to be known as "County Commissioners for the 
Education of the Poor." These commissioners were to 
determine what children were entitled to share in this 
bounty and to make provision for them to be taught 



80 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the rudiments of an English education. On its second 
reading the bill was amended and postponed indefi- 
nitely, January 3, 1825. On the same day a resolution 
was introduced in the House to appoint a committee to 
prepare a plan or system of public education for the 
instruction of children of "poor or indigent parentage" 
to be reported at the next session, and was passed as a 
joint resolution of the two houses. In his report to the 
same Assembly John Haywood, treasurer of the State, 
recommended the use of certain stock belonging to the 
State as the nucleus of a fund for education, "which 
might ultimately prove commensurate to the providing 
the means of education, throughout the State, for that 
portion of our citizens who may, from time to time, be 
found destitute of them." This would form at least a 
"hopeful beginning" and solve the problem of estab- 
lishing schools without taxation. 

Haywood's plan led to newspaper comments on the 
subject. The Western Carolinian editorially approved it 
and agitated legislative action, and articles in the same 
paper signed by "A. B." compared North Carolina's 
apparent indifference with the educational achievements 
of some of the Eastern States. The same articles recom- 
mended primary schools and the establishment of 
schools to train teachers. It was believed that the State 
was amply able to support an educational system. And 
at the same time an educational meeting was held in 
Edgecombe County and decision made to petition the 
Legislature in behalf of common schools; the appeal 
from the Edgecombe citizens was published in the 
Raleigh Register. Other newspaper articles appeared, 
and the public conscience showed signs of being awak- 
ened on the subject. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 81 

We have seen that the first signal victory for educa- 
tion in North Carolina came when the constitutional 
provision for schools was adopted in 1776. The second 
victory came in 1825 when the law creating a school 
fund was enacted. At the meeting of the Assembly that 
year, Governor Burton declared that education was 
more important than internal improvements, a subject 
which had been given legislative attention for eight 
years. Real freedom was impossible without education; 
education was necessary for the people to appreciate 
their political blessings. At this time a petition for 
free schools was presented from Beaufort County, 
and the Orange County Sunday-School Union asked 
legislative aid for its work. This petition, which was 
signed by forty citizens, recited that the society had 
under its care twenty-two Sunday schools with an en- 
rollment of nearly one thousand "children, many of 
whom, — the children of the poor, — who would other- 
wise have been brought up in utter ignorance and vice, 
have been taught to read and trained to habits of moral 
reflection and conduct. The schools have been hereto- 
fore supplied with books for the most part by the charity 
of the public, and it is to furnish the necessary books, 
that your memorialists pray for such aid, as that the 
sum of twenty-five cents per annum may be paid for 
every Sunday-school learner under their care, out of the 
public taxes." The committee to whom the petition was 
referred considered it inexpedient to grant the request 
and the petition was rejected. 

The committee appointed the previous year made its 
report on a plan for a general system of schools for the 
State. In most respects the plan proposed was similar 
to previous plans. Its most interesting feature was its 



82 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

provision for taxation for school support, and this provi- 
sion meant immediate death to the plan. A few days 
later an attempt was made to create a school fund by 
lottery, but this likewise was defeated. But Charles A. 
Hill, of Franklin County, who had the previous year 
presented a bill to create a school fund, now reported to 
the Senate a bill to create a fund for the establishment of 
common schools in the State, which passed through the 
usual legislative channels without division in either 
house and regularly became law. The act was drawn by 
Bartlett Yancey, President of the Senate, and a former 
student of law under Judge Murphey. The provision of 
this act and the influence of the fund created by it will 
be treated in another chapter. 



THE EARLY AGITATION 83 



REFERENCES 

Journals of the House and Senate; Public Laws of North 
Carolina; legislative documents; Coon, Public Education in 
North Carolina, 1790-1840, A Documentary History; Weeks, 
Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the Common 
Schools of North Carolina; Smith, History of Education in 
North Carolina; Report of the United States Commissioner of 
Education, 1895-96. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What was the final influence of the American Revolution 
on education in the United States? 

2. How did the influence express itself in North Carolina? 

3. What arguments are made in the messages of the gover- 
nors during the early years of the national period for 
legislative establishment of schools? 

~ 4. Compare the constitutional provision for education in 
North Carolina with similar provisions in the constitu- 
tions of other States. 

5. What States had made constitutional provision for 
schools before 1825? How many States had established 
school systems by that date? 

6. What were the merits of the plan proposed by Murphey 
in 1817 for a school system in North Carolina? What 
were its weaknesses? 

7. Compare that plan with the plan proposed for Virginia 
about the same time. 

8. Compare Murphey 's plan with the plan presented by 
Walker. 

9. What was the Lancasterian system of education which 
Murphey recommended? What advantages were claimed 
for it? To what extent was the system adopted or used in 
North Carolina? 

; 10. What is the historical relation between the Sunday- 
school movement and the public-school movement in 
the United States? Trace the historical development of 
the Sunday-school movement in North Carolina. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE LITERARY FUND 

So universal is the acceptance of the free-school idea 
to-day that it is difficult to believe that it has developed 
through opposition and struggle or that any other edu- 
cational theory ever found widespread support in demo- 
cratic communities. But public sentiment in regard to 
public education, free and open alike to all, has under- 
gone remarkable changes during the past century. 
Early in the nineteenth century, and even as late as the 
thirties, sentiment was more or less hostile to the princi- 
ple of free schools, as that principle is now accepted. 
Not only were schools and the means of education at 
state expense rare, but taxation for educational pur- 
poses was everywhere difficult to levy. Efficient state 
supervision and control, now so rapidly developing, was 
practically unknown; laws which looked to encouraging 
free schools were permissive and hard to enforce; even 
the income from endowments created for free-school 
support was frequently used for other than educational 
purposes, and not infrequently the endowment itself 
was mismanaged and exploited for private ends. In- 
difference, contempt, and hostility confronted the early 
movements for establishing and maintaining systems of 
public free schools. 

But the gradual growth of the free-school idea reveals 
the slow development of two important principles of 
education which to-day are present in every adequate 



THE LITERARY FUND 85 

and sound public-school system. The first of these is the 
democratic principle that education is the function of 
the State rather than a family function or a parental 
obligation, and that the responsibility of providing the 
means of education rests primarily with the State. The 
other principle is that the State has the power and the 
right to raise by taxation on the property of its members 
sufficient funds for adequate school support. Both of 
these principles are now generally accepted in North 
Carolina, though here as elsewhere they have won ac- 
ceptance in the face of such bitter opposition and cold 
indifference that their period of intense struggle is now 
not only difiicult to recount, but even more difficult, 
perhaps, to realize. 

This remarkable change had its origin very largely in 
the establishment of permanent public endowments, 
popularly known as "literary" or "school" funds, the 
income from which was designed to apply to public- 
school support. Such funds have fostered and encour- 
aged the growth of the present conception of education 
as a public duty. In almost every State in the United 
States the public-school system was begun and set in 
action through this popular method of support. More- 
over, no feature of the public-school systems of the 
United States has rendered greater or more lasting serv- 
ice than public educational endowments, in destroying 
opposition to taxation for school purposes, in developing 
a wholesome educational sentiment, and finally, in stim- 
ulating local initiative and community enterprise. His- 
torically, therefore, the origin, development, and influ- 
ence of a public-school fund have an important place in 
a treatment such as this. 

A variety of purposes or incentives for creating per- 



86 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

manent public-school endowments appears, and a few 
of them may be noted here. Notwithstanding the condi- 
tions which at one time generally opposed free schools, 
public sentiment was never unanimous against them. 
There were a few public-spirited citizens in most com- 
munities who considered state education not only a 
necessary duty but a rare opportunity for promoting 
intelligent and eflBcient citizenship. The discharge of 
this duty called for funds, and there was almost every- 
where a dominating sentiment against taxation for any- 
thing except the necessary expenses of government. 
Schools were not yet properly considered a state obliga- 
tion. Therefore, the establishment of a permanent fund 
promised a means of escape from taxation for schools 
and relief to towns and communities from this burden. 
This seems to be the oldest aim or incentive for estab- 
lishing a permanent public-school fund, and is illus- 
trated by the act of 1795 which established such an en- 
dowment in Connecticut. The result was unexpected 
and unwholesome: the fund failed to make the schools 
free, the gradual increase in its income gradually de- 
creased the tendency to raise local school taxes, and 
from 1821 to 1854 practically the only sources of school 
support in that State were the income from the school 
fund, gifts, and rate bills, which were not abolished until 
1868. 

Other States profited by the costly lesson Connecticut 
had learned. It was clearly demonstrated that an en- 
dowment should not entirely relieve a community from 
local burdens, but should stimulate and encourage local 
effort for school support. Any other principle is not only 
a moral injury to the community and to the cause for 
which the fund was provided, but means death to that 



THE LITERARY FUND 87 

cause if the people are relieved of all responsibility of 
assisting in its support. Therefore, another aim in estab- ' 
lishing school funds was to encourage local taxation. 
The earliest example of this principle is found in the 
case of New York, where its founders never contem- 
plated that the fund, established in 1805, should yield 
sufficient revenue entirely to support the schools. The 
principle here adopted was that of local taxation; be- 
fore a community could participate in a distribution of 
the revenue of the fund an amount equal to its share had 
to be raised by local levy. This principle has been the 
one most generally accepted as the soundest and most 
stimulating to the cause of adequate school support, and 
is now, with some modifications, the one most exten- 
sively adopted in the various States. It was this prin- 
ciple which was adopted in North Carolina in 1839 
when the fund was considered of sufficient accumulation 
to launch a school system; and on this principle the in- 
come of the fund was distributed throughout the ante- 
bellum period. 

Other lawful objects to which the income of perma- 
nent school endowments may now be applied are num- 
erous. In some cases it may be used for teachers' sala- 
ries, the expenses of summer normal schools, institutes, 
or other forms of teacher training; in others, for the con- 
struction and equipment of schoolhouses; in others for 
pupils' tuition, transportation, or textbooks, and in 
others still, for school supervision. The income from the 
present fund in North Carolina, by act of January, 1903, -" 
is applied exclusively to the purpose of building school- 
houses. Local communities may borrow from the fund 
one half the cost of the new building, repaying the amount 
in ten equal annual payments at four percent interest. 



88 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

North Carolina's school fund, known as the "literary 
fund," was created in 1825. At that time eleven other 
States had created similar permanent endowments for 
public-school purposes: Connecticut in 1795, Delaware 
in 1796, New York in 1805, Tennessee in 1806, Virginia 
in 1810, Maryland in 1813, Georgia and New Jersey in 
1817, and Illinois, Kentucky, and Mississippi between 
1818 and 1821. New Hampshire created a fund in 1821, 
but it was not a permanent fund, and no permanent 
fund was established in that State until 1867. North 
Carolina was therefore the eighth of the original, and 
the sixth of the Southern, States to establish a perma- 
nent public endowment for educational purposes. The 
act creating the fund defined its sources as: — 

The dividends arising from the stock now held by the State 
in the banks of Newbern and Cape Fear and which have not 
heretofore been pledged and set apart for internal improve- 
ments; the dividends arising from stock which is owned by the 
State in the Cape Fear Navigation Company, the Roanoke 
Navigation Company, and the Clubfoot and Harlow Creek 
Canal Company; the tax imposed by law on Hcenses to the 
retailers of spirituous liquors and auctioneers; the unexpended 
balance of the Agricultural Fund, which by the act of the 
Legislature is directed to be paid into the public treasury; all 
moneys paid to the State for the entries of vacant lands (ex- 
cept the Cherokee lands) ; the sum of twenty-one thousand and 
ninety dollars, which was paid by this State to certain Chero- 
kee Indians, for reservations to lands secured by them by 
treaty, when the said sums shall be received from the United 
States by this State; and of all the vacant and unappropriated 
swamp lands in this State, together with such sums of money 
as the Legislature may hereafter find it convenient to appro- 
priate from time to time. 

The same act vested the fund in the governor, the 
chief justice of the supreme court, the President of the 



THE LITERARY FUND 89 

Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
and the treasurer of the State, as directors of the endow- 
ment. This body was directed to invest the funds in the 
stock of any of the state banks or of the United States 
and to alter and change such investments in any way 
that would promote their value. The fund thus pro- 
vided, when sufficiently accumulated, was to be applied 
to the instruction of the youth of the State in the prin- 
ciples of reading, writing, and arithmetic, to be divided 
among the counties in proportion to their free white 
population. 

The growth of the fund was slow during its early 
period. When the first report of the literary board was 
made to the Legislature in February, 1827, the receipts 
of the fund previous to November 1, 1826, amounted to 
$12,304.95. At this time the State owned 2762 shares 
of stock in the Bank of the State, valued at $276,200, 
the dividends from which were then applied to the or- 
dinary expenses of the government. It also held 1663 
shares in the Bank of Newbern, valued at $166,300, and 
2057 shares in the Bank of Cape Fear, valued at $205,- 
700. The income from 1304 shares in the Bank of New- 
bern and 1358 shares in the Bank of Cape Fear, which 
the State held before 1821, was set apart and applied to 
internal improvements. The dividends arising from the 
remaining 359 shares in the Bank of Newbern, and 699 
shares in the Bank of Cape Fear, were pledged to the 
literary fund. The board recommended "that the stock 
now owned by the State and purchased since 1821, and 
that which may be acquired in the Banks of Newbern 
and Cape Fear" be transferred to the literary board for 
educational purposes. If the fund were thus increased, 
the report stated, schools could soon be established. 



90 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

The second report of the board showed that the re- 
ceipts of the fund for the year ending November 1, 
1827, amounted to $23,702.37, making an aggregate sum 
of more than $36,000 belonging to the fund at that time. 
The third report, dated December, 1828, placed the ag- 
gregate' amount of the fund at $77,811.62. The board 
urged "a steady perseverance in the plan which is now 
in operation and which promises at no very distant 
period to realize the benevolent and patriotic expecta- 
tions of those with whom it originated." 

The income from the fund for 1829 was more than 
$16,000. In 1830 it was $30,152.88; the following year 
the fund amounted to $74,476.48, and on November 1, 
1832, it amounted to $88,165.61. For the year ending 
November 1, 1833, the receipts of the fund were more 
than $28,000, making the total amount of the fund about 
$117,000. No expenditures had been made from the fund 
since 1828. The entire fund was therefore idle and un- 
productive during those years. The act creating the en- 
dowment gave the literary board authority to invest any 
part or the whole of the fund in the stock of any of the 
banks of the State, or in the stock of the Bank of the 
United States. The board was declining to exercise this 
authority largely because it was uncertain of the proper 
construction to be put on this part of the act. Problems 
of safe investments remained throughout the life of the 
fund one of its serious difficulties. Until 1838 they were 
in fact the chief problems confronting the board. Not 
until that date was the revenue of the fund appro- 
priated for school support, and then the principle on 
which appropriations were made was simple. Each 
school district which raised by local taxation the sum 
of twenty dollars for school support was entitled to 



THE LITERARY FUND 91 

receive twice that amount from the income of the lit- 
erary fund. 

Criticism of the management of the fund was frequent 
and well founded. It was not unusual for drafts to be 
made on it for deficiencies in the public fund; and so 
common and continuous was this use of the educational 
fund that the state treasurer in 1832, himself a member 
of the literary board, urged some provision by which 
the fund could be preserved and improved. The follow- 
ing table shows the amounts due the literary fund from 
the public fund, at the end of certain months in 1832 and 
1833: — 

January $2,937.20 

February 51,271.68 

March 52,913.25 

April 52,706.05 

May 58,380.11 

June 60,823.92 

July 60,455.30 

August 64,339.88 

September 56,762.66 

October 5,198.42 

December 14,125.05 

January (1833) 24,547.69 

February 66,016.75 

March 12,982.49 

April 12,742,73 

When drafts were made on the school fund to supply 
deficiencies in the public fund, the amounts were re- 
placed as soon as the taxes "afforded the means." But 
this use of the fund practically nullified the design of its 
founders; moreover, control of the fund was thus vir- 
tually taken out of the hands of the literary board. 
The treasurer said, commenting on the practice : — 



92 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

To suffer thus to go to decay, and to be consumed, means 
liberally provided and set apart by previous Legislatures for 
the benefit of an after generation, resembles in some respects 
the conduct of an improvident heir, who wastes in mere indo- 
lence what has been saved, by the industry and economy of 
the ancestor, for the lasting improvement of the inheritance. 

On November 1, 1834, the literary fund amounted to 
$139,403.99. With this amount 1200 shares of stock in 
the Bank of North Carolina were bought at a cost of 
$120,000, leaving an unexpended balance of $19,403.99 
in the treasury to the credit of the fund. The receipts 
during the next year amounted to $29,670.72, which 
made a total of $49,074.71 in the treasury November 1, 
1835. Out of this balance investments in more bank 
stock had been made to the amount of $46,600, and 
other disbursements during the year reduced the balance 
to $1167.08. The receipts during the year ending No- 
vember 1, 1836, amounted to $32,642.71. Investments 
and other expenditures for the same period amounted 
to $29,964.70, leaving in the treasury the sum of 
$3845.09. 

Nothing had yet been done toward the establishment 
of a system of schools. As has already been seen, there 
was a growing wholesome educational sentiment and a 
constant agitation for beginning some sort of educa- 
tional plan; but the literary board seemed to regard its 
duties as being confined entirely to the management of 
the fund. The reports of the board were, therefore, 
financial rather than educational. Moreover, during 
this period the fund was considered by the State and 
private corporations and individuals as a convenient 
source for drawing or borrowing when in need. The 
literary fund was regarded as too small to support a 



THE LITERARY FUND 93 

school system, and the cause of education, having no 
powerful champions, suffered as a consequence. 

But a decided change appeared after 1836, when the 
fund was greatly increased by the distribution of the 
surplus revenue in the federal treasury. Enormous reve- 
nues had accumulated as a result of unprecedented land 
sales and of the protective tariff; and under the leader- 
ship of Webster, who introduced the measure, an act 
was passed distributing the surplus on hand January 1, 
1837, among the several States then in the Union, on the 
basis of their representation in Congress. The States 
were to agree to return the money when called on, pro- 
vided not more than $10,000 should be demanded at 
any one time from any one State without sufficient no- 
tice, and all the States were to be called on for their 
respective parts at the same time. More than $28,000,- 
000 was thus distributed. 

North Carolina's share amounted to $1,433,757.40, 
and its disposition was determined by several important 
interests and conditions.^ The first of these was finan- 
cial and had to do with internal improvements. Previ- 
ous state aid to this interest had not only proved un- 
profitable, but it had failed to decrease the need for 
better transportation facilities. Moreover, private com- 
panies and individual effort were ill-prepared to engage 
in such enterprises; and with the era of railroad con- 
struction at hand there was a growing demand for a 
combination of state and private capital. Such a policy 
had been recommended repeatedly. It had also been 
urged that the vast acreage of unavailable swamp lands 
belonging to the State be drained so as to be made pro- 

^ Boyd, "The Finances of the North Carolina Literary Fund," 
South Atlantic Quarterly, July and October, 1914. 



94 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

ductive and profitable. But lack of funds prevented the 
State from inaugurating such a policy. 

A decrease in the ancient and intense sectional rivalry 
between eastern and western interests also proved of 
influence in determining the disposition of North Caro- 
lina's share of the surplus revenue. This rivalry had for 
a generation existed as a result of an unequal distribu- 
tion of representation in the Legislature, and demands 
for constitutional reform had as long been insistent. 
With the revision of the Constitution in 1835, this re- 
form was secured and the conflict appeared less intense. 
Chance for united effort on public matters was now 
greatly enhanced. Moreover, the rise of the Whig Party 
revealed an important influence in North Carolina, 
where it adopted, and elected a governor in 1836 on, 
the progressive policy of increased state aid to internal 
improvements. These conditions and influences were 
purely political in character. Another equally important 
influence, perhaps, but of a different nature, was the de- 
pleted condition of the state treasury. In the year that 
the surplus revenue was distributed. North Carolina had 
a debt of about $400,000 and a record of expenses ex- 
ceeding or equaling the revenues. And the literary fund 
was still insufBcient for immediate educational service. 

A joint legislative committee of twenty-six members, 
with William A. Graham, Whig, as chairman, was ap- 
pointed to inquire into the best method of disposing of 
the share coming to North Carolina. The recommenda- 
tion of the committee was that $900,000 be placed to 
the credit of the literary fund, and the remainder be 
applied to internal improvements. The opposition, rep- 
resenting the Democrats, proposed that the money be 
used to redeem the $400,000 debt of the State, to in- 



THE LITERARY FUND 95 

crease the literary fund and the fund for internal im- 
provements, to drain and improve the swamp lands, 
and to assist in railroad construction. The plan finally 
adopted disposed of the amount allotted to North Caro- 
lina by appropriating $100,000 to the contingent ex- 
penses of the state government; the sum of $300,000 to 
redeem the public debt; the sum of $300,000 to the credit 
of the literary fund; the sum of $200,000 to drain the 
swamp lands; and the remaining $533,757.40 to the fund 
for internal improvements. The appropriation to the 
literary fund was to be invested in stock of the Bank of 
Cape Fear, and the $200,000 appropriated to drain the 
swamp lands was indirectly an appropriation to the same 
fund, since the income from these lands was to be applied 
to it when the entries were made. Eventually all of 
North Carolina's share became a part of the literary fund 
except the sum appropriated to the current expenses of 
the state government. But the $500,000 immediately 
placed to the credit of the fund was not the only increase 
of that endowment at this time. By further legislation, 
all the vacant swamp lands of the State were formally 
vested in the literary fund. Moreover, railroad stock 
owned by the State and amounting to $600,000, the 
revenue from certain loans made by the internal im- 
provements board, and 4000 shares of stock in the 
Bank of the State of North Carolina, valued at $400,- 
000, and 3000 shares in the Bank of Cape Fear, valued 
at $300,000, both the property of the State, were like- 
wise vested in the literary board for educational pur- 
poses. The principal of the literary fund was thus in- 
creased about $1,800,000. In November, 1840, the total 
resources of the fund amounted to $2,241,480.05, and 
consisted of : — 



96 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Bank stock $1,032,200.00 

Railroad stock 600,000.00 

Navigation stock 87,500.00 

Railroad bonds 225,000.00 

Notes of individuals and corporations 155,943.75 

Swamp improvements 62,829.24 

Cash on hand 78,007.06 

Total $2,241,480.05 

The accompanying table on page 97 shows the amounts 
of the surplus revenue allotted to the other States and 
how the funds were used.^ 

With the distribution of the surplus revenue in 1837 
the literary fund was considered suflScient to begin the 
support of or assistance to a system of common schools. 
By act of January 20, 1837, certain changes were made 
in the composition of the literary board so as to in- 
crease its responsibility. The governor, by virtue of his 
oflfice, was to remain president with power to select 
with the advice of his council the other three members 
of the board. At the same time the House passed a reso- 
lution which instructed the Committee on Education 
"to inquire into the expediency of establishing a general 
system of free schools throughout the State," and the 
Senate likewise resolved that the literary board "be 
instructed to digest a plan for common schools, suited to 
the condition and resources" of the State, to be re- 
ported at the next session of the Legislature. The report 
was made December 4, 1838, and as a result the first 
public-school law of the State was passed January 7, 
1839.2 'pjjg principle of school support adopted by this 

* Blackmar, The Hiitory of Federal and State Aid to Higher Educa- 
tion, Bureau of Education Circular of Information, no. 1, 1890, p. 46. 

2 This report of the literary board and the act of 1839 are treated 
fully in chapter viii. 



THE LITERARY FUND 



97 



State 


Amount 


How used 


Alabama 


$669,086.78 


Education. 




Arkansas 


286,751.48 


General purposes. 




Connecticut. . . . 


764,670.61 


One half to education and one 
to general purposes. 


half 


Delaware 


286,751.48 


Education. 




Georgia 


1,051,422.09 


One third to education and 
thirds to general purposes. 


two 


Illinois 


477 919 13 


Education and internal impi 








ments. 


Indiana 


860,254.44 


One half to education and one 
to general purposes. 


half 


Kentucky 


1,443,757.40 


Education. 




Louisiana 


477,919.13 


General purposes. 




Maine 


955 838 27 


General purposes. 

Education and general purpos 




Maryland 


955,838.27 


es. 


Massachusetts. . 


1,338,173.57 


General purposes. 




Michigan 


286,751.48 


Internal improvements. 




Mississippi 


382,335.31 


General purposes. 




Missouri 


382,335.31 


Education. 




New Hampshire. 


669,086.78 


General purposes. 




New Jersey 


764,670.61 


General purposes. 




New York 


4,014,520.71 


Education. 




North Carolina . 


1,433,757.40 


Education and internal improve- 






ments. 




Ohio 


2,007,260.36 






Pennsylvania . . . 


2,867,514.^0 


Partly for education. 




Rhode Island . . . 


382,335.31 


Education. 




South Carolina. . 


1,051,422.09 


One third to education and 
thirds to general purposes. 


two 


Tennessee 


1,433,757.40 


General purposes. 




Vermont 


669,086.78 


Education. 




Virginia 


2,198,428.04 


General purposes. 





legislation was that of local taxation combined with 
appropriations from the literary fund; each school dis- 
trict which raised by local levy the sum of twenty dol- 
lars was to receive twice that amount from the income 
of the literary fund. Under this provision the endow- 
ment contributed during the first year of the law the 
sum of $2400: to Tyrrell County for thirteen districts, 



98 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

$520; to Cherokee County for sixteen districts, $640; to 
Richmond County for twenty -two districts, $880; and 
to Macon County for nine districts, the sum of $360. 
■ This means that the fund stimulated local taxation 
.0 amounting to $1200 and that $3600 of public funds was 
expended for school support during the first year of the 
school system. 

During the next twenty years the school system pros- 
pered and continued to increase in efficiency. The fund 
stimulated local educational effort throughout all parts 
of the State with the result that creditable expenditures 
were made for public schools. The table below exhibits 
the income and the disbursements from the literary 
fund, the amounts appropriated by it for schools, the 
amounts raised by local taxation, and the total amounts 
paid for public-school education between 1841 and 
1861: — 



Year 


Income 


Disbursements 


For schools 


liOcal taxes 


Total paid 
for schools 


1841 


8:121,613.02 


$92,655.67 


832,836.12 


$16,418.06 


$49,254.18 


1842 


101,323.48 


150,289.59 


65,297.24 


32,048.62 


97,945.86 


1843 


135,453.45 


130,407.76 


46,424.92 


23,212.46 


09,037.38 


1844 


123,009.00 


121,722.65 


117,897.10 


58,948.55 


175,845.65 


1845 


112,246.24 


04,302.51 


61,506.01 


30,783.00 


92,349.01 


1846 


116,431.93 


101,325.73 


96,712.01 


48,356.00 


145,008.01 


1847 


122,556.47 


106,830.81 


90,511.31 


48,255.05 


144,760.96 


1848 


108,342.21 


115,174.81 


101,530.04 


50,705.02 


152,295.04 


1849 


105,388.29 


110,803.42 


90,499.38 


49,724.69 


149,174.07 


1850 


100,301.40 


112,816.28 


107,339.00 


53,669.50 


101,008.50 


1851 


129,255.24 


94,506.41 


81,329.61 


40,604.80 


121,994.41 


1852 


137,380.41 


101,472.33 


144,351.13 


72,175.56 


210,526.69 


1853 


192,250.75 


139,8»;5.16 


120,545.03 


60,272.81 


180,818.44 


1854 


190,090.25 


109,983.32 


].53,73(;.79 


76,808.39 


230,005.18 


1855 


146,753.35 


202,089.50 


82,088.88 


41,344.44 


124,033.32 


1856 


183,073.00 


193,976.09 


177,479.02 


88,739.51 


260,218.53 


1857 


278,767.87 


300,528.53 


180,751.38 


90,375.69 


271,127.07 


1858 


104,188.44 


204,674.28 


17S»,087.48 


89,543.74 


208,631.22 


1859 


158,442.04 


209,156.08 


172,051.69 


80,025.84 


258,077.53 


1860 


167,475.12 


216,904.01 


186,054.11 


93,027.05 


279,081.16 


1861 


154,839.37 


150.749.68 


131,886.75 


05,943.38 


197.830.13 



There is perhaps no more lamentable and melan- 
choly chapter in the history of American education than 



THE LITERARY FUND 99 

the record of the amazing carelessness and indifference 
with which pubHc-school endowments have been man- 
aged. This record is practically universal of the pioneer 
days of public educational effort when education was 
not considered a proper public interest. Public educa- 
tional funds were consequently not guarded with the 
jealous care which their importance and sanctity de- 
manded. The manner in which such funds were man- 
aged is further convincing evidence of the harassing 
conditions and opposition which confronted the public- 
school movement in its early days.^ 

Few if any States entirely escaped from the evils of 
poor management and often exploitation of their school 
funds ; even more rigid control proved to be no insurance 
of permanent endowments against loss, which was gen- 
erally appearing. Almost every species of violation of 
public trust may be seen in the list of causes of loss to 
permanent public-school funds. In some cases the funds 
were grossly and shamefully diverted from the original 
designs of their founders. The history of the school fund 
of Missouri and of other States is a good illustration of 
this form of loss. In some cases the management of the 
funds was indifferently entrusted to incompetent offi- 
cials and the result was unwise investments. This form 
of loss may be illustrated in almost every State. An- 
other common cause of loss was insufficiently secured 
loans and defaulted interest. Fully $700,000 was lost to 
the school fund of Texas before 1900 through defaulted 
interest. Arkansas likewise suffered even a greater loss 
through practically worthless notes and bonds; and 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri sustained losses 

^ See Swift, Public Permanent School Funds in the United States, 
chaps. V and vi. 



100 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

in a similar manner. Notes given in Alabama between 
1837 and 1874 for lands belonging to the school fund 
remained unpaid from thirty to seventy years, and 
many of them seem never to have been paid. The poli- 
cies often employed in disposing of school-fund lands 
vary from inefficient and careless methods to those of 
questionable and clearly fraudulent character. More- 
over, money derived from such sales not infrequently 
was unsafely invested. 

Dishonest management and embezzlement by officers 
entrusted with the care of school funds represent other 
losses sustained by public education in the United 
States. Happily there are not many gross examples of 
this form of loss. Perhaps the most flagrant case is 
found in Tennessee where the state superintendent of 
schools between 1837 and 1840 used the fund for sinister 
private purposes. Through "wild-cat" bank schemes, 
loans to business associates, and through real estate 
operations, he succeeded in robbing the school fund of 
more than $120,000. Failures of banks in which school 
funds were invested, the use of school funds for paying 
the current expenses of the state government, and the 
repudiation by the State of debts due the school funds 
are still other forms of wrongs committed against edu- 
cation. In 1848 Vermont owed its school fund $224,- 
000, which debt was repudiated; and Colorado twice re- 
pudiated an indebtedness to its school fund amounting 
to nearly a half -million dollars. 

Before 1860 direct and permanent losses to the liter- 
ary fund in North Carolina were not very considerable, 
but occasional carelessness in investing the funds in 
securities of declining value showed short-sighted man- 
agement. Several misfortunes befell the endowment. 



THE LITERARY FUND 101 

however, during the ante-bellum period. The defalca- 
tion of the treasurer of the State in 1827 proved a tem- 
porary loss to the fund of about $28,000, though the 
Legislature later returned the amount with interest. A 
decline in dividends from the stock held by the fund in 
state banks somewhat retarded the growth of the fund 
before 1836 and proved of slight misfortune to the en- 
dowment. During the thirties and forties the fund was 
now and then used to meet deficits in the public fund,^ 
and occasionally it was drawn on to meet interest 
charges on state bonds. By 1850 more than $122,000 
had been drawn from the fund for deficits in the state 
treasury. In 1851 the sum of $81,000, in 1854 the sum of 
$152,000, and in 1855 the sum of $23,000, belonging to 
the literary fund, were used for expenses of the state 
government. These amounts were finally returned, but 
the frequent loss in interest charges, which were not 
always paid, and the manner of regarding the fund as 
a source of supply when emergency arose, are sufficient 
to condemn the practice as unwise and unjust. 

With secession and the opening of the war in 1861 new 
perils threatened the fund which for many years had 
rendered such valuable educational service. From the 
outset it was apparent that vigorous efforts would be 
made to secure military revenues from as many sources 
as possible, and there was fear that the literary fund 
would be appropriated for war purposes. The fear was 
not ungrounded, for various attempts were made to 
obtain the fund to carry on the war. But through the 
efforts of Dr. Calvin H. Wiley, who had been state su- 
perintendent of public schools since January, 1853, the 
danger was averted and the fund remained untouched 
1 See p. 91. 



102 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

for such uses. Dr. Wiley's anxiety for the schools led him 
in May, 1861, to address letters to the county super- 
intendents in which he urged the use of their influence 
to help secure the endowment. Moreover, he obtained 
permission to meet with the governor's council just 
before the Legislature assembled, when the first execu- 
tive recommendations for the emergency were matured. 
Dr. Wiley's description of the meeting is worth giving 
in full: — 

The governor was in feeble health, wasting with consump- 
tion and the weight of public cares, and the meeting was at his 
residence. The superintendent was kindly received and pa- 
tiently listened to on that memorable occasion, and then and 
there was fixed a policy wliich will ever be honorable to the 
State. It was suggested that the school fund of over $2,000,000 
would seem large to some, and a ready means for the prosecu- 
tion of the war and to save taxation, and that under these 
plausible pretexts the slumbering opposition to the schools 
would unite short-sighted friends, and by a temporary sus- 
pension aim to destroy them forever. And it was argued that 
though the fund was, indeed, a large one, in one sense, it was 
but an inconsiderable item in the expenses about to be in- 
curred, and that if we were able to engage in hostilities at all 
we were able to do without it; that if it was desired to popu- 
larize the war it would be most injudicious to begin it by the 
suspension of a system which was the poor man's life, and 
which would be so essential to the orphans of the soldiers called 
to surrender their lives for the common good; and now, when 
it was aimed to vindicate Southern civilization before the 
world, it would surely be an unwise step to begin by the volun- 
tary destruction of an efiicient system of popular instruction; 
that no people could or would be free who were unable or un- 
wiUing to educate their cliildren. True independence must be 
based on moral character and on popular intelligence and 
industrial development, and thus in the momentous struggle 
about to begin it would impart confidence to the public mind 
to see the State enter the contest with the apparent assurance 



THE LITERARY FUND 103 

that her interior interests were not endangered by her course; 
that war under any circumstances was destructive for the time, 
and that the pending contest might be long and exhausting; 
and that it was the part of wisdom and patriotism so to act 
that the end should find the fewest possible desolations to be 
repaired, and no permanent weakening of the elements of 
social elevation. These considerations prevailed, and the 
executive power of the State, represented by the governor 
and his council, entered into an informal but solemn agree- 
ment with the superintendent of common schools to oppose, 
with him, all attempts to seize the fund for war purposes, or 
to suspend the schools, and the compact was faithfully ob- 
served by Governor Ellis and his successors during the war 
and by their constitutional advisers.^ 

In November, 1861, the North Carolina Educational 
Association, which was organized several years before, 
memorialized the state convention, asking that by con- 
stitutional amendment the proceeds of the endowment 
" be sacredly and permanently secured to their original 
purposes." Meantime, the superintendent enlisted the 
influence of many of the county boards of education, 
and the attempt to appropriate the fund for military 
purposes was so bitterly fought that it was finally de- 
feated. Thus the literary fund was saved to its original 
purposes. In September, 1861, however, an act was 
passed which repealed that section of the code which 
required the county courts to levy and collect school 
taxes. But the act was not to apply "to those counties 
where the justices, a majority being present, shall elect 
to lay such a tax." Thus released from the legal require- 
ment to levy taxes for schools, some of the counties 
voted to use the money for military purposes, while 
others discontinued school support until the close of the 

^ Weeks, Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the Com/- 
man Schools of North Carolina. 



104 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

war. It seems that no distribution was made from the 
fund for school support after 1860 until 1862. In Octo- 
ber of that year the sum of $100,000 was distributed; 
"and from evidence of a later date it seems that the in- 
come of the fund was temporarily used to meet the 
financial crisis brought about by the war." ^ But the 
schools did not entirely collapse until 1866. 

Governor Vance appointed new trustees for the liter- 
ary fund in 1862, but in a short time it seemed diiOBcult 
to secure meetings of the board, and in 1863 the gov- 
ernor and one other member took entire charge of the 
management of the investments. Dr. Wiley had all along 
urged the trustees to make no change in the investments 
of the fund, and this policy was adopted and in the 
main followed throughout the war. The fund was, there- 
fore, not heavily invested in Confederate securities; but 
it was invested very largely in stock in banks which had 
invested in such securities; and in the wreck which came 
to the banking system of the State in 1865, this part of 
the literary fund was largely lost. Moreover, it appears 
that about $650,000 was invested in state bonds, and 
the repudiation of the war debt by the state conven- 
tion in 1865 destroyed this investment. The railroad 
stock and stock in the navigation companies were also 
practically without value. In 1866 the total income from 
the literary fund was only $776. Several plans were 
suggested by Dr. Wiley and other influential friends of 
education by which the fund could be reestablished and 
the schools revived, but all appeals were without effect. 

In 1869 all the railroad stock belonging to the fund 
and hitherto valued at $600,000 was sold for $148,000. 
The stock in the Cape Fear Navigation Company, 
^ See Boyd, op. cit. 



THE LITERARY FUND 105 

valued at $32,500, was sold for $3250, or for ten cents on 
the dollar. Bank stocks also belonging to the fund, and 
representing an investment of more than $1,000,000, 
was worthless. The money received from the sale of the 
railroad stock was invested in special tax bonds of the 
State and these were soon repudiated. The total loss of 
the fund, once so large and valuable, was nearly $2,500,- 
000. From this time forward any extensive public- 
school support by means of permanent endowments was 
largely a matter of history in North Carolina. 

Although the legal existence of the fund created in 1825 
practically ended with the adoption in 1868 of a new con- 
stitution, the fourth section of article nine of that consti- 
tution provided for an "irreducible" fund as follows: — 

The proceeds of all lands that have been, or hereafter may 
be, granted by the United States to this State, and not other- 
wise specially appropriated by the United States or heretofore 
by this State; also, all moneys, stocks, bonds, and other prop- 
erty now belonging to any fund for purposes of education; 
also, the net proceeds that may accrue to the State from sales 
of estrays, or from fines, penalties, and forfeitures; also, the 
proceeds of all sales of the swamp lands belonging to the 
State; also, all money that shall be paid as an equivalent for 
exemption from military duty; also, all grants, gifts, or devises 
that may hereafter be made to this State, and not otherwise 
appropriated by the grant, gift, or devise, shall be securely 
invested and sacredly preserved as an irreducible educational 
fund, the annual income of which, together with so much of 
the ordinary revenue of the State as may be necessary, shall 
be faithfully appropriated for establishing and perfecting in 
this State a system of free public schools, and for no other 
purposes or uses whatsoever. 

With the return of home rule in 1876 a new constitu- 
tion was framed which went into effect January 1, 1877. 
Section four of article nine provided : — 



106 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

The proceeds of all lands that have been or hereafter may 
be granted by the United States to this State, or not otherwise 
appropriated by this State or the United States; also, all 
moneys, stocks, bonds, and other property, now belonging to 
any state fund for purposes of education; also, the net pro- 
ceeds of all sales of the swamp lands belonging to the State, 
and all other grants, gifts, or devises, that have been or here- 
after may be made to this State, and not otherwise appropri- 
ated by the State, or by the term of the grant, gift, or devise, 
shall be paid into the state treasury; and, together with so 
much of the ordinary revenue of the State as may be by law 
set apart for that purpose, shall be faithfully appropriated for 
establishing and maintaining in this State a system of free 
pubhc schools, and for no other uses or purposes whatsoever. 

Another section of the same article provided that the 

net proceeds from the sale of estrays; also, the clear proceeds 
of all penalties and forfeitures, and of all fines collected in the 
several counties for any breach of the penal or mihtary laws of 
the State; and all moneys which shall be paid by persons as an 
equivalent for exemption from military duty, shall belong to 
and remain in the several counties, and shall be faithfully 
appropriated for estabhshing and maintaining free public 
schools in the several counties of this State : Provided, that the 
amount collected in each county shall be annually reported to 
the superintendent of pubhc instruction. 

By the constitution of 1868 and that of 1876 a new 
basis was made for the principal support of schools. 
State taxation, instead of the income from a permanent 
public endowment, was henceforth to be the chief means 
of supporting the public free schools of the State. 

From 1870 to 1903 the principal sources of increase of 
the fund provided for in the constitution were proceeds 
of the sales of federal land grants not already appropri- 
ated by the United States or the States; the proceeds of 
the sales of swamp lands; and grants, gifts, and devises 
made to the State and not otherwise appropriated. As 



THE LITERARY FUND 107 

late as 1889 the entries from public lands averaged only 
about $5000 a year, and were gradually becoming less, 
and the income from the swamp lands was not consider- 
able. Occasionally some of these lands were sold, but 
the prices received were small and the sums realized 
were of but little help in swelling the sources of school 
support. At the same time the fund owned North Caro- 
lina four per cent bonds, amounting to $99,250, from 
which there was an annual interest income of $3970. 
The total annual income from the holdings and sources 
of the fund was between $8000 and $10,000, but a dis- 
tribution of it among the counties of the State was not 
made every year, as the school law provided. Whenever, 
in the judgment of the state authorities, there was a 
sufficient accumulation to justify a distribution, the 
fund was distributed for general school purposes on the 
basis of school population in the various counties. In 
1889 the appropriation annually averaged about two 
cents per pupil of school age. Three years later the per- 
manent fund amounted to $154,250. All of this yielded 
four per cent interest except $2000 which bore six per 
cent. 

In 1903 there was in the hands of the state treasurer 
a fund of nearly $200,000 belonging to the state board of 
education, which had been accumulating for several 
years from the sale of swamp lands. About $150,000 of 
this was in state bonds which yielded an annual revenue 
of four per cent interest, but under the law only the 
interest on it could be used for educational purposes. 
From time to time this had been apportioned to the 
schools on the basis of school population, but the 
amounts were always so small that the distribution was 
scarcely felt. At its session in that year. Superintendent 



108 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

J. Y. Joyner recommended to the Legislature that this 
fund be converted into a permanent loan fund as "a 
practical plan of securing in a reasonable time a com- 
fortable and respectable schoolhouse in every rural 
district in the State. . . . 

Addressing the Legislature, Dr. Joyner said : — 

The use of this sacred fund for any temporary purpose 
would, as I see it, be a crime against past, present, and future 
generations. ... As long as it remains idle in the hands of the 
treasurer it will be a constant temptation to every General 
Assembly that happens to find a deficit that must be met. If 
used for any temporary purpose or to meet any temporary 
deficit, it will, in my opinion, be lost forever to the children of 
the State. Everybody knows the diflBculty of getting the State 
to repay money that it borrows from itself. 

The House and Senate Joint Committee on Education 
endorsed the recommendation of the State Superintend- 
ent, with the result that a special act was passed direct- 
ing that all funds derived before that time from the 
sources enumerated in the constitution (section four of 
article nine), and all funds hereafter so derived, together 
with the interest on such funds, be set apart as a sepa- 
rate and distinct school fund to be known as the " State 
Literary Fund," to be used exclusively as a means of 
building and improving public schoolhouses, under rules 
and regulations to be adopted by the state board of 
education. 

Under the rules adopted for regulating the loans for 
building schoolhouses, only half of the cost of a new 
house or of the improvement of an old one was to be lent 
to any one school district. Districts with a school popu- 
lation of less than sixty-five could not receive aid unless 
"sparsity of population" or " unsurmountable natural 



THE LITERARY FUND 109 

barriers" made such aid absolutely necessary. Prefer- 
ence was given first to needy rural communities and to 
towns of less than one thousand inhabitants; then to 
similar communities which were supporting their schools 
by local taxation; next to those communities which as- 
sisted themselves by private subscriptions; and the last 
class of districts to be aided by the fund were the large 
ones formed by the consolidation of smaller districts. 
The loans were to be made by the state board to the 
county board of education, payable in ten annual in- 
stallments, at four per cent interest, and were to be se- 
cured by notes of the county board which were to be 
deposited with the state treasurer. Moreover, the loans 
became a lien upon the total school funds of the county, 
and the literary fund was further protected by regula- 
tions which authorized the state treasurer, whenever 
necessary, to deduct, from the funds due any county 
from special state appropriations for school purposes, 
an amount sufficient to pay any annual installment due 
the literary fund by any county. The county board was 
likewise similarly secured against default on the part of 
local districts. All houses built by aid from the fund 
were required to be constructed in strict accordance with 
plans approved by the state school authorities; and all 
counties and districts were required to observe strictly 
the rules and regulations governing the management of 
the loans. 

The first loans from the fund were made in August, 
1903. Up to December, 1904, loans amounting to 
$120,580 were made to assist 325 districts in 70 counties 
of the State. The new schoolhouses built during this 
time through assistance from the fund numbered 288. 
The majority of the districts aided were in distinctly 



110 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

rural communities or in village communities of less than 
500 inhabitants. The benefits derived from the fund 
had already exceeded the expectations of its heartiest 
supporters. The value of the old buildings in the com- 
munities assisted was placed at $26,092, and of the new 
ones erected by aid of the fund at $297,540. It was early 
demonstrated that, under wise administration, it was 
possible "to secure during the present generation a 
respectable, comfortable, well-equipped public school- 
house in every district of reasonable size in the State." 
From August 10, 1903, to June 30, 1908, the sum of 
$390,985.50 was lent to 86 counties. The districts aided 
during this period numbered 871, and 787 new houses, 
valued at $975,293.30, were built. The old houses thus 
replaced were valued at only $144,564.50. For the bien- 
nial period ending June 30, 1910, the sum of $122,000 
was lent to 65 counties for improving houses valued at 
$290,495. For the biennial period ending June 30, 1914, 
the total amount of loans made from the literary fund 
for purposes of building or improving schoolhouses was 
$207,447, which was an increase of more than $42,000 
over the biennial period which ended June 30, 1912. 
Seventy-nine counties were aided by the fund between 
July 1, 1912, and June 30, 1914, and the total value of 
the houses built or improved was $674,842. The total 
amount of loans from the fund between 1903 and 1914 
was $896,022.50. Ninety-eight counties had been as- 
sisted during this time in building or improving houses 
valued at $2,411,500. One fifth of all the schoolhouses 
in the State have been built or improved by the aid of 
the fund created by the act of 1903. 



THE LITERARY FUND 111 



REFERENCES 

Journals of the House and Senate; Public Laws of North 
Carolina; legislative documents; Coon, Public Education in 
North Carolina, 1790-18 W, a Documentary History; Weeks, 
Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the Common 
Schools of North Carolina; Smith, History of Education in 
North Carolina; Swift, Permanent Public School Funds in the 
United States; Report, United States Commissioner of Edu- 
cation, 1892-93, vol. 2; Boyd, "The Finances of the North 
Carolina Literary Fund," in South Atlantic Quarterly, July and 
October, 1914; Biennial Reports, State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, 1904-14; Bourne, History of the Surplus 
Revenue of 1837; Blackmar, The History of Federal and State 
Aid to Higher Education in the United States. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. How did the creation of pubhc-school funds aid the 
establishment of school systems? 

2. What was the purpose of creating pubUc-school funds? 

3. What was the principle on which such funds were usually 
established? 

4. How did permanent public-school funds aid local taxa- 
tion? 

5. What were the sources of the fund in North Carolina? 
How did they compare with the sources of similar funds 
in other States? 

6. How did the principle of distributing the income of the 
fund compare with the principle of distribution used in 
other States? 

7. How did the principle of distributing the income of the 
fund compare with the principle on which the present 
fund is used? 

8. Why were the early public-school funds greatly mis- 
managed? How did careless management reflect the 
public attitude toward public education? 

9. How was North Carolina's ante-bellum literary fund 
lost? 



112 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

10. How did the distribution of the surplus revenue of the 
federal government in 1837 aid public education in North 
Carolina? 

11. How has the state hterary fund aided education in 
your county.'* How many schoolhouses have been built 
or improved in your county by aid from this fund? 



CHAPTER VII 

GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT (1825-1837) 

With the creation of a school fund in 1825 the initial 
step was taken by the Legislature in obedience to the 
constitutional mandate to make provision for schools. 
Two reasons may be seen for this long delay. The belief 
was prevalent that current taxation for educational pur- 
poses would meet popular opposition, on the theory 
that education was not a proper function of government; 
and the element of charity read into state aid of schools 
was considered humiliating to those who accepted its 
benefits. These notions caused the State to hang back 
from any definite step by which common schools could 
be established by state taxation. Hostility to increased 
taxation was intense, and the passage of a measure call- 
ing for local or county taxation for school support would 
have been impossible. If schools were to be created pro- 
vision for their maintenance had to be sought in other 
ways than by taxation, and the creation of a permanent 
public fund from the income of which schools were to 
receive aid seemed the only satisfactory plan. This 
method of school support had already been adopted in 
several other States. 

The fund grew slowly at first and was naturally for 
several years inadequate to any considerable effectual 
relief of the need for increased educational facilities. At 
the next session of the Legislature several measures were 
introduced which looked to an increase in the fund, but 



114 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

all of them finally failed. At that time the State owned 
more than a half-million dollars in bank stock alone, 
only about one fifth of which was the property of the 
school fund. But all efforts to transfer the balance to the 
fund for school support failed/ Moreover, other educa- 
tional measures were defeated. A bill to establish a col- 
lege, one department of which was to train teachers, and 
a bill to aid Sunday schools by appropriating a small 
amount to those which would teach indigent children to 
read, both met defeat at this session. The following 
year the first report of the literary board recommended 
the immediate establishment of schools and an increase 
of the fund, but no action was taken. 

No legislation of especial educational importance was 
enacted during the next ten years, though the subject 
continued to be agitated and repeated efforts were made 
to secure educational improvement. As a rule the mes- 
sages of the governors continued to recommend some 
legislative action in behalf of schools, and many plans 
were offered as a solution of the peculiar problem which 
the State was thought to be facing. But practically all 
efforts and plans failed. Failure marked the end of a 
movement in 1827 to promote the education of the deaf 
and dumb children of the State ; no legislative attention 
was given to a plan proposed in 1828 to provide for the 
training of teachers at the state university; and the 
Senate at the same session defeated a bill providing for 
the education of the poor children of the State. Similar 
bills met the same fate in 1829 and again in 1830. And 
efforts to ascertain the number of children in the State 
without educational facilities and to increase the liter- 
ary fund were also defeated in 1830. 

In 1829 Governor Owen accompanied his message to 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 115 

the Legislature with a plan for primary schools which 
had been submitted to him by Charles R. Kenney, who 
had observed the practical operation of schools in other 
sections of the country. In brief, the plan stated that 
North Carolina had as many college graduates as any 
other State in the Union except South Carolina, but was 
deficient in primary educational facilities, and proposed 
to divide the counties into districts and to give them 
power to raise by taxation money sufficient to build 
schoolhouses and maintain a school for four months 
each year. The plan also recommended an examination 
of teachers on the ground that their characters were 
"proverbially and justly bad" and usually consisted of 
men "unfit for anything else." A proper selection would 
remedy this evil. The custom used in New England of 
employing women teachers in the summer was also pro- 
posed. The excellencies of the plan were obvious. Five 
years later Hugh McQueen, a member of the Senate 
from Chatham County, introduced a bill which called 
for the collection of educational statistics and a transfer 
to school support of certain taxes levied for the support 
of the poor and also a tax on certain estates. Nothing 
came of either of the plans. McQueen's bill, however, 
attracted some legislative attention as well as newspaper 
comment. But its late introduction and the details of 
the bill meant its defeat. 

The literary fund for many years after its creation 
was considered insufficient to render much aid in sup- 
port of a general system of schools, and there appeared 
a willingness to allow it to accumulate as best it could 
without the addition of sources of income, which was 
constantly urged. 

, During these years of fruitless effort to promote edu- 



116 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

cation the population of the State was increasing, with 
the result that the children of the masses were growing 
up in ignorance. There seemed to be no voice to speak 
out of the wilderness and to point the way to correct 
educational action. Sentiment for and against schools 
and the means of education was also developing and ex- 
pressing itself. Surprise was frequently expressed in the 
press of the State and elsewhere 

that a subject so interesting to every philanthropist, so super- 
latively important in a political point of view, and so loudly 
and imperiously demanded by existing circumstances in our 
State, should have continued so long without attracting the 
special attention and engaging the active exertions of our Leg- 
islature. . . . The dullness and incapacity which is permitted to 
enter our legislative hall, and disgraces us even in the national 
representation . . . evince most unequivocally the mental de- 
basement of a large portion of our population. 

The education of the masses was believed to be the 
only correct basis of agricultural and commercial pros- 
perity and the surest guaranty of liberty. Another 
writer likewise censured the Legislature for spending its 
time "upon ephemeral objects" to the neglect of the 
"very salvation of the Republic." Still another declared 
that the Legislature was responsible for the 

chilling and sluggish apathy that penetrates into and pervades 
all our public measures for improvement. . . . Our physical, 
moral, and intellectual powers have never been unfolded, and 
never will be, until the people are redeemed by education from 
the state of ignorance to which they have been doomed by our 
penny-saving legislators. All the draw-backs of this State may 
be traced to this muddy source — want of general knowledge. 

Dr. Joseph Caldwell, president of the state university, 
said, in an address before a convention in Raleigh in 
1829, that the State was three centuries behind in educa- 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 117 

tion, the chief cause of which he declared to be the 
"fatal delusion" that "taxation is contrary to the genius 
of a republican government." The next year Governor 
Owen attacked the State's so-called policy of economy 
as fit only to keep "the poor in ignorance and the State 
in poverty." In 1833 Governor Swain in his message 
said : — 

The apathy which has pervaded the legislation of half a 
century is most strikingly exhibited by the fact, that the mere 
expenses of the General Assembly have ordinarily exceeded 
the aggregate expenditures of all the other departments of the 
government, united to the appropriations which have been 
made for the purpose of internal improvements. 

Two years later the Legislature was costing nearly 
half as much as the actual expenses of the state govern- 
ment. Governor Swain declared in his message in 
1835: — 

The history of our state legislation, during the first half- 
century of our political existence, will exhibit little more to 
posterity than the annual imposition of taxes amounting to less 
than a hundred thousand dollars, one half of which constituted 
the reward of the legislative bodies by which they were levied, 
while the remainder was applied to sustain the train of officers 
who superintend the machinery of government. The establish- 
ment of schools for the convenient instruction of youth, and 
the development and improvement of our internal resources 
by means beyond the reach of individual enterprise, will seem 
scarcely to have been regarded as proper objects of legislative 



' The average annual expense of the Legislature during the early 
years of statehood was $15,000. In 1830 it was $40,000, and three 
years later it was $42,000. In this year the total expenses of the State 
were estimated at $160,000 with available resources amounting to only 
$140,000. 



118 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

But sentiment was not altogether in favor of schools 
and internal improvements; occasionally a voice was 
raised against them. An open letter on the subject, ad- 
dressed to the members of the Legislature just before 
the meeting of that body in 1829, and published in the 
Raleigh Register contained the arguments typical of the 
opposition : — 

You will probably be asked, gentlemen, to render some little 
assistance to the university of our State. But I hope you will 
strenuously refuse to do this likewise. It is respectfully sub- 
mitted to the wisdom above mentioned, whether our good old- 
field schools are not abundantly sufficient for all our necessi- 
ties. Our fathers and mothers jogged along uncomplainingly 
without colleges; and long experience proves them to be very 
expensive things. The university has already cost the people 
not a little; and the good it has accomplished thus far is ex- 
tremely doubtful; if I might not rather allege it to have been 
productive of mischief. College learned persons give them- 
selves great airs, are proud, and the fewer of them we have 
amongst us the better. I have long been of the opinion, and 
trust you will join me in it, that establishments of this kind are 
aristocratical in their nature, and evidently opposed to the 
plain, simple, honest, matter-of-fact republicanism which 
ought to flourish among us. The branches of learning culti- 
vated in them are, for the most part, of a lofty, arrogant, and 
useless sort. Who wants Latin and Greek and abstruse mathe- 
matics in these times and in a country like this? Might we not 
as well patronize alchemy, astrology, heraldry, and the black 
art? ... In the third place, it is possible, but not very likely, I 
confess, that you may be solicited to take some steps with 
regard to the establishment among us of common schools. 
Should so ridiculous a measure be propounded to you, you will 
unquestionably, for your own interest, as well as that of your 
constitutents, treat it with the same contemptuous neglect 
which it has ever met with heretofore. Common schools in- 
deed ! Money is very scarce, and the times are unusually hard. 
Why was such a matter never broached in better and more 
prosperous days? Gentlemen, it appears to me that schools are 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 119 

sufficiently plenty, and that the people have no desire they 
should be increased. Those now in operation are not all filled, 
and it is very doubtful if they are productive of much real 
benefit. Would it not redound as much to the advantage of 
young persons, and to the honor of the State, if they should 
pass their days in the cotton patch, or at the plow, or in the 
cornfield, instead of being mewed up in a schoolhouse, where 
they are earning nothing? Such an ado as is made in these 
times about education, surely was never heard of before. Gen- 
tlemen, I hope you do not conceive it at all necessary, that 
everybody should be able to read, write, and cipher. If one is 
to keep a store or a school, or to be a lawyer or phj'sician, such 
branches may, 'perhaps, be taught him; though I do not look 
upon them as by any means indispensable : but if he is to be a 
plain farmer, or a mechanic, they are of no manner of use, but 
rather a detriment. There need no arguments to make clear 
so self-evident a proposition. Should schools be established by 
law, in all parts of the State, as at the North, our taxes must 
be considerably increased, possibly to the amount of one per 
cent and sixpence on a poll; and I will ask any prudent, sane, 
saving man if he desires his taxes to be higher? . . . 

You will doubtless be told that our State is far behind her 
sisters in things of this sort — and what does this prove? 
Merely, that other States are before us; which is their affair, 
and not ours. We are able to govern ourselves without refer- 
ence to other members of the Confederation; and thus are we 
perfectly independent. We shall always have reason enough 
to crow over them, while we have power to say, as I hope we 
may ever have, that our taxes are lighter than theirs. 

Evidence of growing sentiment in favor of improve- 
ment in educational conditions may be seen in the 
movement to organize a teachers' association in the 
State in 1830. A letter, signed by " Paedophilus " and 
addressed to " the friends of education and the cause of 
literature in North Carolina," was published in the 
Raleigh Register in July of that year. The letter pointed 
out the advantages offered by an organization of the 



120 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

teachers of the State, and suggested that a meeting be 
called in Raleigh the following December. No meeting 
was held, however, at that time. The following May 
the same paper referred to the preliminary call of the 
previous year and called attention to conventions for 
educational advancement which had been held in other 
States. It also stated that "a number of gentlemen 
desirous of promoting the general education of the peo- 
ple of this State, are solicitous of again calling the atten- 
tion of the friends of education, and of teachers gener- 
ally, to this subject, and for this purpose, propose to 
hold a convention at Chapel Hill, on the day before the 
ensuing commencement of our university." The meet- 
ing was held at that time and an organization formed, 
known as "The North Carolina Institute of Education." 
A meeting was held in 1832, but its proceedings are no 
longer extant and it is not known what work was under- 
taken at that time. The last meeting was held in 1833 
when several subjects of importance were scheduled for 
consideration, among them being a system of elemen- 
tary schools for the State. But no further meeting of the 
organization was held. 

The year 1832 may be taken as another landmark in 
the educational history of the State. In that year ap- 
peared the well-known letters on popular education, ad- 
dressed to the people of the State, by Dr. Joseph Cald- 
well, president of the state university. These letters, 
eleven in number, were the result of the work of a 
standing committee appointed by the Legislature sev- 
eral years before for the purpose of studying conditions 
in the State with a view to improvement. The commit- 
tee never met; but the letters of Caldwell embodied his 
views on the subject of education. The substance of the 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 121 

letters appeared in the Raleigh Register in 1830, under 
the signature of "Cleveland." 

Commenting on some of the difficulties in the way of 
educational advancement in North Carolina, Dr. Cald- 
well said : — ^ 

When a people have continued long in one course of legis- 
lation, when they have frequently and habitually resisted es- 
says made to diversify or enlarge it, any measure which looks 
beyond the limits of their ordinary action must conspicuously 
embody advantages great and numerous and unquestionable, 
if it would hope for complacent consideration, much more for 
final acceptance. Should an innovation in any instance gain 
their assent, and through malformation or mismanagement 
unhappily fail to secure its object, the event will be pregnant 
with disappointment to all future efforts at improvement. If, 
on the contrary, it should prove successful, even inveterate 
prejudice may be weakened and dissolved and many things 
become easy which before were impossible. 

There is perhaps no art or science in which greater improve- 
ment has been made than in that of education in primary 
schools. It has assumed a character wholly different from that 
of former times, and from that in which it still appears among 
ourselves. The mode of communicating instruction, the vari- 
ety of which it consists, the interest ever kept aUve in the 
bosom of the pupil, the exclusion of corporal punishment with 
which it is most successfully conducted, the activity and ver- 
satility to which it trains the intellectual faculties, the life and 
force which it imparts to the human affections, and the wide 
range of thought and knowledge which it opens before the 
reason and curiosity of the pupil, transcend the anticipated 
pictures even of an indulged imagination. Could we witness it 
in its processes and effects, its superior excellence would as- 
suredly occur to us with a conviction as complete, as every one 
now feels in favor of the gin in preference to the fingers in the 
process of cleaning cotton, of the steamboat compared with 
sails or oars, or of a locomotive engine carrying its numerous 

^ These letters are published in Coon, Public Education in North 
Carolina, 1790-18-^0, A Documentary History, vol. ii. 



122 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

tons at twelve miles an hour, contrasted with the labor and 
plodding movement of wagons and horses, of which unhappily 
to our incalculable loss we are still fain to avail ourselves, over 
the sharp pinches, the floundering water pits and jolting ob- 
stacles of highways on which the hand of improvement has 
never operated. Nothing certainly is wanted but this ocular 
demonstration, to the resolute and instant adoption of all these 
astonishing and inestimable improvements which distinguish 
the generation of men and the age to which we belong, above 
the bygone ages and generations of the world. But to wit- 
ness the present perfection of the schoolmaster's art is not our 
privilege, for its examples are too remote. And this presents 
an obstacle to any system of elementary schools we can recom- 
mend for the children of our State. 

Another obstruction meets us in our aversion to taxation 
beyond the bare necessities of government and the public tran- 
quillity. Any scheme of popular education must be capable of 
deriving existence originalljs and of maintaining it perpetually, 
without taxing us for the purpose, or we are well aware that 
we shall not as a people consent to its establishment. 

A still further difficulty is felt in the indifference unhappily 
prevalent in many of our people on the subject of education. 
Vast numbers have grown up into life, have passed into its 
later years and raised families without it: and probably there 
are multitudes of whose forefathers this is no less to be said. 
Human nature is ever apt to contract prejudices against that 
which has never entered into its customs. Especially is this 
likely to be the case if there have been large numbers who were 
subject in common to our same defects and privations. They 
sustain themselves by joint interest and feelings against the 
disparagements and disadvantages of their condition. It be- 
comes even an object to believe that the want of education is 
of little consequence; and as they have made their way through 
the world without it, better than some who have enjoyed its 
privileges, they learn to regard it with slight if not with oppo- 
sition, especially when called to any effort or contribution of 
funds for securing its advantages to the children. Such are the 
woeful consequences to any people who, in the formation of 
new settlements, have not carried along with them the estab- 
lishment of schools for the education of their families. So 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 123 

strangely may the truth be inverted in the minds of men in such 
circumstances, that they become avowed partisans of mental 
darkness against light, and are sometimes seen glorying in 
ignorance as their privilege and boast. When a people lapse 
into this state, and there is reason to fear that multitudes are 
to be found among us of this description, it must be no small 
difficulty to neutralize their antipathy against education, and 
enlist them in support of any system for extending it to every 
family in the State. 

I might mention further, as one of the greatest obstructions, 
the scattered condition of our population, over a vast extent 
of territory, making it difficult to embody numbers within such 
a compass as will make it convenient or practicable for children 
to attend upon instruction. 

A most serious impediment is felt in our want of commercial 
opportimities, by which, though we may possess ample means 
of subsistence to our families, money is difficult of attainment 
to build schoolhouses and support teachers. Could the avenues 
of trade be opened to this agricultural people, funds would flow 
in from abroad, and resources would be created at home, 
which would make the support of schools and many other ex- 
penses to be felt as of no consequence. Excluded as we now are 
from the market of the world, the necessity of rigid economy is 
urged against every expenditure however small, and the first 
plea which meets us, when the education of children is im- 
pressed upon parents, is their inability to bear the expense. 
This is one principal reason why it has been thought that 
among all the improvements upon which we are called to en- 
gage for the benefit of the State, commercial opportunity shall 
be first. With the enlargement of funds, every difficulty would 
vanish in the way to such improvements as are rapidly ele- 
vating other States to distinction and opulence. . . . 

I have already mentioned seven distinct causes of embar- 
rassment in the organization of any plan for popular education. 
It were easy to extend the enumeration, but these will suffice 
to show the serious obstacles that meet us in the formation of 
a system of primary schools, to stagger our hopes of its accept- 
ance with the people. An eighth, however, I must not omit, 
on account of its very great influence. It is seen in the aversion 
with which we recoil from laws that exercise constraint upon 



124 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

our actions. We are a people whose habits and wishes revolt at 
everything that infringes upon an entire freedom of choice 
upon almost every subject. It would be easy to elucidate how 
this has come to be a trait so deeply marked in our character, 
but its reality is unquestionable. Provision for general instruc- 
tion can scarcely be effected, without some compulsory meas- 
ures regulating the actions of individuals into particular chan- 
nels directed upon the object. Every such measure is felt to be 
an entrenchment upon the indefinite discretion to which we 
tenaciously adhere, when a relinquishment of it is not abso- 
lutely indispensable. 

In considering plans for overcoming the educational 
backwardness of the State, the letters declared: — 

It will be forever vain to meditate plans of legislative action, 
if we persist in looking to means, which the people have given 
prescriptive evidence that they will never adopt. Why con- 
tinue to press schemes from year to year, involving the neces- 
sity of taxation.'' Such projects may serve to amuse, to dis- 
tract, to weaken. Party spirit, which is the bane of all wise and 
sound policy, is perpetuated from year to year, assumes a 
standing character, and is propagated among the people, poi- 
soning the fountains of legislation. The halls of the Assembly 
become an arena to fight over again the same battles, in which 
it often happens that the best interests of the country are con- 
nected with the degradation of defeat. Success is made the 
test of merit. The strength of a cause is estimated, not from 
the benefits with which it is pregnant to the State, but by the 
comparative numbers enlisted in its support or subversion, by 
adherence to a party, the agitations of hope and fear, and the 
delusions of artificial excitement. The triumphs of victorious 
opposition, even to an object so sacred and all important as the 
education of the people, are capable of covering the object 
itself with ignominy, through an indiscreet and persevering 
connection of it with loans and taxes to which our established 
feelings are in revolting and irreconcilable aversion. 

The laws and measures which have been urged upon us by 
the most unquestionable patriotism, and by minds of every 
rank in ability, and which have owed their prostration to the 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 125, 

taxes proposed for their execution, who could attempt to 
enumerate? They lie entombed in the mouldering records of 
our legislative assemblies. Were each to occupy the space of 
earth usually allotted to a fellow mortal, no repository of the 
dead in the wide range of our State would be ample enough for 
their receptions. Let us take warning from their fate, and look 
to other means. 

Thousands of parents are ready to second any practicable 
system by which education may be accessible to their children. 
Let it be offered to their voluntary acceptance by the best 
methods of instruction, and at the least expense, and they will 
grasp with eagerness the proffered privilege. How can we 
imagine that a people like ourselves, living in an age of knowl- 
edge everywhere distributed through a thousand channels, can 
continue indifferent to its opportunities. There is not a wind of 
heaven, come from what quarter it may, which wafts not to 
our ears improvements and discoveries that fill the world with 
activity and interest. 

A discussion of the three usual methods of education 
— the voluntary plan, legislative aid by means of taxa- 
tion, and a combination of voluntary and state aid — 
followed in the third letter. It is in this letter that edu- 
cational practices in the State at that time were freely 
remarked upon and strictures made on the teaching 
profession : — 

The first method is the one which we now practice. It con- 
sists in the origination and maintenance of a school in any 
neighborhood, by a voluntary combination among as many of 
the inhabitants as will agree. Its insufficiency is proved by all 
our past and present experience. A school house is to be erected 
at the common expense; a site for it is to be chosen with the 
consent of all ; a master is to be found ; a selection and approba- 
tion if there be more than one, is to be discussed and settled; 
his compensation and support must be fixed to the general 
satisfaction, and the time of continuance must be stipulated. 

Here are six principal points on every one of which dissen- 
sion of opinions, feelings, and interests may spring up, to pro- 



126 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

duce weakness or defeat. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the 
perplexities that meet us at every step, and the discourage- 
ment of failures and disappointments, until at last in a vast 
number of instances, the object is relinquished in despair. 

The evil which is the greatest of all, is the want of qualified 
masters. It may be difficult to obtain a teacher at all, but it is 
pretty certain in the present state of the country, not one is 
perfectly fitted for the occupation. Do we think that of all the 
professions in the world, that of a schoolmaster requires the 
least preparatory formation? If we do, there cannot be a more 
egregious mistake. For if any man arrived at years of matur- 
ity, who can read, write and cipher, were taken up to be 
trained to the true methods of instructing and managing an 
elementary school, by a master teacher who understands them 
well, he could scarcely comprehend them and establish them 
in his habits in less than two years. This is not to speak with 
looseness and extravagance on the subject; and we need only 
to examine with opportunity of information, to be convinced 
of it as a practical truth. Yet in our present mode of popular 
education, we act upon the principle that school-keeping is a 
business to which scarcely any one but an idiot is incompetent, 
if he only knows reading, writing, and arithmetic. If in almost 
every vicinage there happens to be one or a few who have more 
correct opinions, the numbers who think otherwise carry it 
over their heads, and our primary schools are kept sunk down 
to the lowest point of degradation, and education is disgraced 
by our own misconceptions and mismanagements. 

In the present condition of society and of public opinion, the 
occupation of a schoolmaster, in comparison with others, is 
regarded with contempt. It would be wonderful were it other- 
wise, when we look at the manner in which it is very often, if 
not most usually, filled. Is a man constitutionally and habitu- 
ally indolent, a burden upon all from whom he can extract a 
support? Then there is one way of shaking him off; let us make 
him a schoolmaster. To teach a school is, in the opinion of 
many, little else than sitting still and doing nothing. Has any 
man wasted all his property, or ended in debt by indiscretion 
and misconduct? The business of school-keeping stands wide 
open for his reception, and here he sinks to the bottom, for 
want of capacity to support himself. Has any one ruined him- 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 127 

self, and done all he could to corrupt others, by dissipation, 
drinking, seduction, and a course of irregularities? Nay, has 
he returned from a prison after an ignominious atonement for 
some violation of the laws? He is destitute of character and 
cannot be trusted, but presently he opens a school and the 
children are seen flocking into it, for if he is willing to act in 
that capacity, we shall all admit that as he can read and write, 
and cipher to the square root, he will make an excellent school- 
master. In short, it is no matter what the man is, or what his 
manners or principles, if he has escaped with life from the penal 
code, we have the satisfaction to think that he can still have 
credit as a schoolmaster. 

Is it possible, fellow citizens, that in such a state of things 
as this, education can be in high estimation among us? Is it 
strange that in the eye of thousands, when education is spoken 
of, you can read a most distinct expression that it is a poor and 
valueless thing? Can we rationally hope that so long as a 
method of popular education as this shall be all to which we 
look, the great body of the people will become enlightened and 
intelligent? Will they be qualified to act in all the various rela- 
tions of parents and children, brothers and sisters, masters and 
servants, neighbors, members of the community, citizens of 
the State, subjects of Providence, and heirs of immortality? 
In all these capacities every child that grows up into life must 
necessarily act, and the teacher whose habits, views, and dis- 
positions di) not qualify, and whose conscience does not urge 
him to instill into his pupils the principles, excite the emotions, 
and select the books best fitted to them all, is totally defective 
in the business of a schoolmaster, and has need to learn the 
first elements of his art. If any difficulty occurs as to the large- 
ness of the qualifications of a common teacher, which seem 
here to be required in excess, it is a subject on which I propose 
to explain more fully afterwards, and will hope for a reference 
at present to the further remarks to be made upon it. 

Every species of business may be executed with various de- 
grees of ability, and men may differ in their opinions of such as 
possess skill of a higher order in their professions. But respect- 
ing such as possess no talent, no qualification, none can mis- 
take. All must feel one common overpowering conviction that 
their pretensions are despicable. Let any profession be wholly 



128 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

consigned to occupants so wretchedly destitute of every quali- 
fication in skill or principle, let it be known to the people only 
in such defective and degrading forms, and how can it be other- 
wise than contemptible, and all that is connected with it of 
little or no worth? . . . 

That education in our primary schools should be held in low 
estimation, is but a natural consequence of the circumstances 
in which it is acquired. It never can be valued so long as they 
continue. The resources to which we have been left through 
our whole progress as a people, being of this character, the 
consequence is well known that thousands, and perhaps tens 
of thousands, are left to grow up unable to read at all. Experi- 
ence has made it undisputable that the plan which we have 
practiced, if plan it can be called, is a total failure so far as 
North Carolina is concerned. Can evidence be wanting of its 
deplorable consequences, when it is by no means rare to hear 
men directing upon education a derision which would imply 
that they can deem it a glory and a privilege to be without it? 
I have been placed in circumstances, and there are few I fear 
who have not been similarly situated, where it would be dan- 
gerous to the election of a candidate to have it thought that he 
had any pretensions to information or culture, at least beyond 
a bare capacity to read. And some miserable being, to secure 
the great object of his ambition, has frontlessly presented it as 
a sure and glorious passport to success over the head of a rival, 
who was so unfortunate as to have had some education, that he 
belonged to the class of the ignorant, with whom the greater 
part considered it their glory to be ranked. 

We see, then, the consequences of educating children by 
such wretched methods as we commonly practice. Thus it will 
always continue to be, so long as these methods are retained. 
We dress up the occupation of a schoolmaster in rags. It ap- 
pears in hideous deformity by our own arrangement. It is no 
wonder if that which we intended for the figure of a man can- 
not be thought of otherwise than as a laughing-stock, a by- 
word, or a scarecrow, and then education is put down as a 
questionable subject. Nay, it becomes a thing of scorn and 
reproach. The repulsive and disgraceful forms in which it 
appears have been given to it by ourselves, in the crudity of 
our own misconceptions. Where is the subject or the person- 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 129 

age that may not be exposed to derision and rejection by a 
similar process? 

And how shall the confidence and the affections of the people 
be regained? It is by stripping off the offensive and contempti- 
ble disguise, and presenting Education in all the beauty and 
excellence of her proper character. No sooner shall this be 
done than all will fall in love with her. Her presence will be 
courted as the privilege and ornament of every vicinage, and 
under her patronage the clouds and mists that lower upon us 
will be dissipated. 

Other letters discussed the public-school system of 
other States and pointed out those features which would 
be practicable for conditions in North Carolina. Provi- 
sion for training teachers was regarded as a necessary 
feature of any system which the State should adopt, and 
a thorough plan for a school in which such provision 
could be made was considered in detail. The demand 
for trained teachers would then increase and " the walls 
that shut in our people from the light of day" would be 
broken down. 

Certain social and economic conditions during these 
years had produced a general feeling of uncertainty and 
depression, with the result that progressive policies of 
internal improvements and education were difficult to 
formulate and execute. These conditions had variously 
revealed themselves. In 1790 the State ranked third in 
population; ten years later it had declined to fourth, and 
by 1830 to fifth, place among the other States of the 
Union. Moreover, the value of lands was also on the 
decrease: in 1815 it was more than in 1833, although a 
million acres had been entered by the latter date. Slaves 
were increasing faster than the white population; emi- 
gration continued a persistent and alarming problem, 
thousands of people leaving the State every year in 



130 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

search of better opportunities; and the want of better 
commercial opportunities closed the avenues of trade 
to a people almost entirely agricultural, proving a most 
serious impediment to social progress.^ The report of 
the committee on internal improvements in 1833 recited 
many of these conditions and discussed the inauguration 
of a state policy by which the evils which resulted from 
the previous policy of the State could be cured. Among 
other things the report said: — 

Upon comparing the present languishing condition of the 
agricultural resources of North Carolina with the improved 
and prosperous condition of even the most inconsiderable 
members of the Union, the picture portrays the contrast, char- 
acteristic of a community worn down by the hand of adversity, 
in colors too strong to be concealed. That in North Carolina, 
it is apparent the reward of labor has ceased to be a stimulus to 
industry and enterprise; that agriculture has ceased to yield to 
the landowner a compensation equivalent to the expense at- 
tending the transportation of his surplus produce to market. 
The consequent result of this state of things is, that real estate 
throughout the country has so depreciated in the hands of farm- 
ers as to be considered not to possess a fixed value estimated 
upon its products. Hence our citizens are daily abandoning the 
places of their birth for situations in other States less healthy, 
and often not superior in fertility of soil; but which, by the 
improvement of those States, rendered so by the fostering aid 
of legislative patronage, the facilities to wealth and the means 
of acquiring the necessaries of life, the profits of labor hold out 
stronger inducements to agricultural pursuits than is to be 
found in North Carolina. Nor does the evil stop here. The 
tide of emigration, which never ebbs, not only carries with it a 
great portion of the enterprise and prime of our youth, but 
much of the productive and most valuable description of the 
State's wealth. These are facts of "ominous import," which 
should admonish us to guard against the fatal issue with which 

^ Boyd, "The Finances of the North Carolina Literary Fund," in 
South Atlantic Quarterly, July and October, 1914. 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 131 

they are pregnant. Can it be our interest so to shape our policy 
as to render our State the mere nursery for the Western and 
Southwestern States? Surely not. We do not thereby lessen 
the political influence of the State in the councils of the general 
government, but we evidently weaken the ties of patriotism of 
our citizens to the land of their nativity. 

The social relations of family connections evidently con- 
stitute the most lasting cement of the political permanency of 
any country. Indeed, what else is it but the social ties of fam- 
ily connections, when rendered happy and prosperous by their 
own industry, that stamps a value upon society? Or will it be 
contended that the present scattered condition of the family 
connections of North Carolina has a tendency to increase 
either the happiness or the devotion of its inhabitants to the 
interest of the State? Go into any neighborhood, and inquire 
of the seniors or heads of families, how many children they 
have raised, and in what State do they reside, and in nine cases 
out of ten, the auswer will be, "I have raised some six or eight 
children; but the major portion of them have migrated to some 
other State"; and adds the parent, "I am anxious to sell my 
lands, to enable me to follow them." Thus, it will appear that 
the lands of nine tenths of the farmers of the State are actually 
in market; and what does it arise from? Evidently from the 
fact that the distance to and expense of sending the staple 
products of the soil to market, so far lessen the profits upon ag- 
ricultural labor that the farmer has no inducements to effort. 
Therefore, it is that all our farmers are land-sellers, and not 
land-buyers. 

The cause of these evils is apparent; but no less so than is the 
remedy. Throw open the agricultural interest of our State to 
the action of trade or commerce; open its widespread avenues, 
by constructing railroads from the interior of our fertile back 
country to markets within the State, at least, so far as nature 
in the distribution of her favors has rendered them feasible; 
connect by railroads the rivers of the State at given points, 
whereby the produce of their fruitful valleys may be sent to an 
export market. This done, and it will reflect to the State all 
the substantial benefits to be derived from an export depot — 
such at least as will locate a capital within its influence, equal 
to the amount of exports. 



132 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

By concentrating the commerce of the State to one point, it 
will remove an evil which but few are apprised of. The pro- 
duce should be received at the export depot in sufficient quan- 
tities so as to furnish a cargo, without subjecting the shipper to 
the increased expense arising from delay, a privation in the 
outset which often renders the voyage unsuccessful. Hence the 
necessity of adding to the aggregate quantity of export articles 
at the shipping port. 

The laggard progress of internal improvements the 
report charged to the Legislature : — 

But your committee hath the gratification to perceive that 
this important subject has in a great degree undergone the 
inquisitorial examination of the people, whose decision in all 
matters of public interest has ever been found in unison with 
the general welfare. 

The people now perceive that they have endured a state of 
privation, which sad experience shows to be a downward 
course, and when longer forbearance would be but an aggrava- 
tion of the evil. But the people, knowing their interest, with a 
voice not to be resisted hath proclaimed aloud that the period 
has arrived when something ought, something can, and when 
something must be done to arrest the progress of our down hill 
march. 

Public expectations have become awakened, all eyes have 
been turned upon the present session of the General Assembly, 
and now look with patriotic solicitude for the anticipated fav- 
orable result of its deliberations. With regard to the ability of 
individual efforts to accomplish the desired results of public 
improvements, there can be no difficulty in perceiving that 
they cannot raise the required funds. Our citizens, subjected 
as they evidently are, and have ever been, to an expense almost 
equal to the market value of a great portion of their surplus 
produce in getting it to market, must be ill-prepared to engage 
in enterprises, which from their importance should be justly 
considered undertakings of state magnitude. It is, therefore, 
apparent, that if the improvements of the State are to be ef- 
fected at all, they must be by the aid of the State, and not by 
private companies. The expression of public opinion by the 
people, in their recent numerous primary meetings, has given 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 133 

ample testimony of what the public expectations are with 
regard to the two-fifths principle. The unanimity of the inter- 
nal improvement convention, held in November last in Ra- 
leigh, in which forty-four counties were represented, and of 
which [there] were but five dissenting votes to the magnificent 
scheme recommended by that body to the consideration of the 
General Assembly, should be viewed as conclusive as to the 
sentiments of the people upon the subject. 

In criticism of the continued policy of the Legislature 
the following newspaper article, signed "Old Field," 
which appeared about this time, is significant: — 

Mr. Editor: In your last paper I observed a piece taken from 
the Family Lyceum, which contains a great deal of matter upon 
the subject of the school funds in the different States. What a 
mirror is it to the eyes of a North Carolinian! We see from 
that, that she, upon this, as upon all other subjects of impor- 
tance to her citizens, is almost a century behind her sister 
States. True, she has a small school fund, but how is it ap- 
plied? Do we use it for the purpose of bringing within the 
reach of the children of the poor the means of education.? No, 
but we borrow from it, from year to year, to pay our members 
of Assembly! How humiliating this must be to the pride of 
every public-spirited citizen. The State of North Carolina 
borrowing money to pay her members of Assembly, from a 
fund set apart for the education of the poor ! Shame upon our 
law-givers. Can we expect to compete with our sister States, in 
the march of improvement now going on, while many of our 
citizens remain ignorant even of the alphabet? Can we expect 
to arouse them to the importance of internal communication, 
by means of canals, or railroads, while they remain ignorant 
even of the names of these mediums of conveyance? Surely 
not. A child must crawl before it can walk. . . . Our citizens 
must learn how to spell internal improvements before they can 
comprehend the meaning of the term. 

I have thrown out these desultory remarks, in the hope, Mr. 
Editor, that some person more able than I am, would urge the 
importance of some system of common schools, to the citizens 
of our State. It is high time we were thinking upon the subject. 
... It is one of vital importance to our welfare. 



134 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

In the same year, 1833, the Committee on Education 
and the Literary Fund reported to the Senate that no 
system of schools could be established with the funds 
then on hand, and recommended an increase in them. 
To do this a resolution was offered to appropriate thirty 
thousand dollars to drain certain vacant and unappro- 
priated swamp lands belonging to the literary fund. 
This would bring into market a large quantity of valu- 
able property which would otherwise remain unavailable 
and worthless and would enormously increase the re- 
sources of the fund. By such action the benefits of edu- 
cation could be furnished to "every cottage throughout 
the country" from the fund the aggregate amount of 
which was then considered too small to launch a sys- 
tem of schools. But in spite of the recommendation and 
the popular belief that something could be done to im- 
prove conditions, no legislative action was taken at this 
session. The next year a bill was introduced to make 
surveys and to sell certain portions of the lands belong- 
ing to the literary fund, but nothing came of the rec- 
ommendation. At the same session a creditable scheme 
for schools was introduced in the Senate, and al- 
though this bill likewise met defeat it made sufficient 
impression on the Legislature to be printed in the laws 
of that year.^ The press had praise for the proposed 
legislation and called it one of the most important meas- 
ures ever presented to the Assembly. The Raleigh Star, 
after discussing the important features of the bill, said : — 

The late session was not very propitious to the fate of a 
measure so novel in its character, and so important in its prin- 
ciples. It came in after the political resolutions and the con- 
vention bill, and of course had necessarily to give place to 
them. But it was only lost in the Senate by a majority of six 

* McQueen's Bill. 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 135 

votes, after an explanation of its principles by Mr. McQueen, 
in a speech of about an hour's length; and immediately after 
the bill had been disposed of, the senator from Burke, Mr. 
Carson, rose in his place, and moved that the bill be printed 
and appended to the laws of the State, and that the remarks of 
the introducer of the bill be published along with it. The first 
part of the motion prevailed unanimously; but Mr. McQueen 
would not consent to the last. We hope, however, that he may 
yet be prevailed upon, by the importance of the subject, to 
write out his remarks for the press, that the people may have 
the benefit of the useful information and cogent arguments 
which they contained. A stronger recommendation than the 
order taken upon the bill and remarks by the body to whom 
they were submitted, could not be given; for we believe it is 
the first time that either a bill or a speech received such a dis- 
tinguished mark of approbation by our Legislature. 

No educational legislation was passed in 1835, the 
Assembly committees not even making a report on the 
subject. Governor Swain discussed the matter in his 
message, however, referring to the small provision 
which the State had made for education and internal 
improvements. At the session of 1836-37 a memorial 
was presented from some citizens of Fayetteville who 
"witnessed with pain and mortification the depressed 
condition which each section of our State presents, 
when compared with that of her sisters of our happy 
Union"; and Governor Dudley, in his inaugural address 
to the Assembly, said: — 

As a State, we stand fifth in population, first in climate, 
equal in soil, minerals, and ores, with superior advantages for 
manufacturing and with a hardy, industrious, and economical 
people. Yet with such unequaled natural facilities, we are 
actually least in the scale of relative wealth and enterprise, and 
our condition daily becoming worse — lands depressed in 
price, fallow and deserted — manufacturing advantages unim- 
proved — our stores of mineral wealth undisturbed, and our 
colleges and schools languishing from neglect. . . . 



136 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

It was said that there were then in the State fully 
120,000 children between the ages of five and fifteen 
who were " destitute of a common-school education. In 
some parts of the State, many large families are found, 
not one of whom, parents or children, can read their 
alphabet; and in others, whole neighborhoods of forty 
or fifty families exist, among whom but few individuals 
can read their Bible." From press and pulpit the need 
for schools and increased facilities for education was 
being discussed, and the whole subject was becoming 
more and more absorbing in its interest. 

Several important educational steps were taken at 
the session of the Legislature of 1836-37. One of these 
was the plan adopted for disposing of the surplus reve- 
nue distributed by act of Congress in 1836; another was 
the passage of a law which vested certain swamp lands 
in the literary board and appropriated the sum of $200- 
000 for their drainage and improvement; and still an- 
other, equal in importance to these, was the direction 
given to the literary board to digest a plan for a state 
school system and to report to the next session of the 
Assembly. These steps, all of an educational signifi- 
cance, marked the dawn of a new era in education and 
social progress in the State. The principal of the liter- 
ary fund was now greatly increased with a resulting 
expansion of its revenues. The share of North Carolina 
in the surplus revenue from the federal government 
amounted to $1,433,757.40, all of which was eventually 
applied directly or indirectly to the cause of education. 
The literary fund was thus increased to nearly two mil- 
lion dollars, and steps were at once begun for launching 
a creditable system of common schools. 



GROWTH OF EDUCATIONAL SENTIMENT 137 

REFERENCES 

Journals of the House and Senate; Laws of North Carolina; 
legislative documents; Coon, Public Education in North Caro- 
lina, 1790-1840, a Documentary History; Smith, History of 
Education in North Carolina; Weeks, Calvin Henderson Wiley 
and the Organization of the Common Schools of North Carolina. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. Account for the fruitless effort to establish schools 
between 1825 and 1837. 

2. What were some of the conditions of this period that 
retarded educational progress? 

3. In what way were the educational conditions of the time 
the product of social, economic, and political conditions? 

4. How do the arguments in favor of education during these 
years compare with those advanced in its favor between 
1800 and 1825? 

6. What were the merits of the plan offered by Charles R. 
Kenny in 1829? Compare that placn with the plan offered 
by Hugh McQueen in 1834. 

6. What were the defects of most of the plans offered during 
these years for establishing a system of education? 

7. How do the Caldwell letters reflect the educational senti- 
ment of the leaders of the time? 

8. In what respect is the letter opposing legislative aid to 
education (see p. 118) representative of the sentiment 
hostile to educational advancement? 

9. What evidence do you find that the popular attitude 
toward schools, teachers and teaching during the period 
discussed in this chapter was changing? 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION (1838-1852) 

Three distinct periods, corresponding to as many 
different periods in our social and economic develop- 
ment, characterize educational development in the 
United States. The first is that of the transplanting of 
European institutions, traditions, and customs to Amer- 
ican soil, from the first settlement to the middle of the 
eighteenth century or a little later, when political, 
social, and economic conditions in the mother country 
affected the colonies. The second period is one of at- 
tempted modification or adoption in an effort to meet 
the demands of a new and radically different environ- 
ment, and extends from about the middle of the eight- 
eenth century to about the fourth decade of the nine- 
teenth century. The third is the period of the building 
up here of a system of education, distinctively Ameri- 
can, to meet the new conditions into which the nation 
had come, and extends from the thirties to near the 
close of the nineteenth century. We have already traced 
the educational history of North Carolina through the 
first and second of these periods. 

The third period shows a gradually developing faith 
in the power of the people; Jeffersonian democracy waS" 
now rapidly culminating. The period is characterized 
by the gradual separation of public education from ec- 
clesiastical control; by the gradual development of the 
ideal of local control; and by what is probably even 
more noticeable, a gradual but sure growth toward the 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 139 

ideal of democracy. During this time public schools 
passed over to the State; the old academies rapidly 
changed into public high schools, colleges became 
largely non-sectarian, and state universities were or- 
ganized and developed. It is during this period, also, 
that we find a more general expansion of state constitu- 
tional provisions for education than previously existed, 
which was one result of the development of the demo- 
cratic theory of government. Specific and definite lan- 
guage was substituted for general educational terms in 
the constitutions. There was also an extension of the 
franchise and an increase in the number of elective oflS- 
cers. It was during this period that we find the estab- 
lishment of the first normal school, the creation of the 
first state board of education, the office of the first super- 
intendent of public instruction, the maintenance of the 
first teachers' institutes, and the establishment of the 
first school libraries. Everywhere there was a new im- 
petus to educational thought and practice. 

Conditions in North Carolina were showing the same 
marked change as appeared in other sections of the 
country during the early years of this period. Impor- 
tant political and social changes had produced a new 
educational ideal. The friends of education were nu- 
merous and gradually increasing and for several years 
had agitated a movement for public schools. Condi- 
tions were now more favorable than ever for undertak- 
'ing such an enterprise; resources were at hand, and 
there was no lack of will and intelligence to apply them 
with liberality and discretion. 

We saw that the Legislature of 1836-37, however, 
was not quite ready to enact a law establishing schools.^ 
1 See p. 136. 



140 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

But certain important educational measures were 
passed at that session: a part of the surplus revenue 
was applied to educational purposes; an appropriation 
of $200,000 was made to drain and improve certain 
swamp lands belonging to the literary fund; and the 
literary board was directed to digest a plan for a system 
of schools to be reported to the next meeting of the 
Legislature. 

In his message to the Legislature at the beginning of 
the session, 1838-39, Governor Dudley urged the es- 
tablishment of schools and the employment of a state 
superintendent. Early in the session several resolutions 
were passed relative to the subject, and the report of 
the literary board was also early received in both 
houses. This report was extensive, thorough -going, and 
detailed, and suggested a plan for common schools 
"suited to the conditions and resources of the State"; 
and on this report was based the first public-school law 
of North Carolina. On this law, ratified January 8, 
1839, and its revisions, was developed the creditable 
ante-bellum system of schools which was attracting wide 
attention at the outbreak of the Civil War. The im- 
portance of this law justifies a full reproduction of it at 
this point: — 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North 
Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the 
same, that it shall be the duty of the sheriffs of the several 
counties of this State, when they advertise the next election for 
members of Congress, to give notice, at the same time, bj'^ pub- 
lic advertisement in every election precinct that an election 
will be held to ascertain the voice of the people upon the sub- 
ject of common schools ; and all who are in favor of raising by 
taxation, one dollar for every two dollars proposed to be fur- 
nished out of the Uterary fund, for the establishment of common 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 141 

schools in each school district, will deposit their vote with the 
word "school" written on it; those opposed to it will vote "no 
school" upon their ticket; and all who vote for members of the 
house of commons, shall be entitled to vote; and it shall be the 
duty of the poll keepers to count the votes given at each pre- 
cinct for school or no school, and to return the same to the 
sheriff who shall count together all the votes; and if a majority 
shall be found in favor of schools, it shall be the duty of the 
sheriff to furnish a certificate of the same to the next county 
court of his county; and any sheriff failing to comply with the 
requisitions of this act, shall suffer all the penalties imposed by 
law for failing to discharge his duty in any election for mem- 
bers of Assembly. 

II. Be it further enacted, that the several courts of pleas 
and quarter sessions in each county of the State of North Caro- 
lina, shall, in such county as shall determine to accept these 
terms, at the first court that may happen after such election, a 
majority of the justices of such county being present, proceed 
to elect not less than five nor more than ten persons, as super- 
intendents of common schools, for such county; and in such 
election, it shall be necessary for a choice that each of the per- 
sons elected shall receive a majority of the votes of all the 
justices present. 

III. Be it further enacted, that said superintendents or a 
majority of them, shall meet within a reasonable time there- 
after, and shall have power to choose one of their number as 
chairman, and shall proceed to divide their respective counties 
into school districts, for the purpose of establishing common 
schools, containing not more than six miles square, but having 
regard to the number of the white children in each, so far as 
they can ascertain the same: Provided, nevertheless, that no 
greater number of school districts shall be laid off in any 
county than shall be equal to one for every six miles square of 
inhabited territory in said county. 

IV. Be it further enacted, that said superintendents shall 
number the districts, and make return thereof to the first 
county court in their several counties, which shall be held after 
the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and 
forty; and it shall be the duty of said superintendents in mak- 
ing their return, to designate, as well as they may, their natu- 



142 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

ral boundaries and prominent objects of the boundary of each 
said districts; and it shall be the duty of said court to cause 
such return to be recorded in the registrar's oflBce of said 
county. 

V. Be it further enacted, that the aforesaid boards of super- 
intendents, in each county, after completing the divisions as 
aforesaid, shall appoint not less than three, nor more than six 
school committeemen, in each district, whose duty it shall be 
to assist said superintendents in all matters pertaining to the 
establishment of schools for their respective districts. 

VI. Be it further enacted, that if any person who shall be 
thus appointed to serve as superintendent, shall refuse or neg- 
lect to do so after having accepted this appointment, he shall 
forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered by 
action of debt, in any court of record in this State; and such 
penalty, when recovered, to be paid over to the president and 
directors of the literary fund, and to be appropriated to the 
literary fund; and it shall be the duty of the county attorney 
for the State, to prosecute suit in all such cases, for and on 
behalf of the president and directors of the literary fund. 

VII. Be it further enacted, that in any county where a ma- 
jority of the votes have been for common schools, and a cer- 
tificate of the same has been furnished by the sheriff to said 
superintendents of common schools, it shall be the duty of 
the superintendents to transmit the same, with a certificate 
of the number of school districts in their respective counties, 
to the president of the literary fund. 

VIII. Be it further enacted, that in every county in the 
State, where the vote shall be in favor of common schools, it 
shall be the duty of the said county courts, after the first terms 
that shall happen after the first Monday in January, one thou- 
sand eight hundred and forty, a majority of the justices being 
present, to levy a tax to the amount of twenty dollars for each 
district in said county, in the same mamier that other county 
taxes are now levied for other county purposes, to be paid over 
to the school committee of the respective districts, upon the 
certificate of the chairman of the board of superintendents. 

IX. Be it further enacted, that forty dollars out of the net 
income of the literary fund, for the year one thousand eight 
hundred and thirty-nine, is hereby appropriated to each dis- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 143 

trict in said counties where the vote shall be in favor of the 
establishment of common schools, which shall be paid by 
the public treasurer, upon the warrant of the governor, upon the 
certificate of the chairman of the board of superintendents of 
said counties, that taxes have been levied to the amount of 
twenty dollars for each school district in their respective coun- 
ties and that schoolhouses have been erected in each district 
sufficient to accommodate at least fifty scholars. 

X. Be it further enacted, that every county which shall 
refuse or neglect to levy a tax, and build the schoolhouses 
herein specified, shall at any time hereafter be entitled to re- 
ceive the forty dollars hereby appropriated to each district, 
upon complying with the terms hereinbefore specified. 

XI. Be it further enacted, that if in taking the next census 
of the United States, Congress shall fail to provide for ascer- 
taining the number of inhabitants, and especially of white 
children, in the several school districts of North Carolina, it 
shall be the duty of the governor, as president of the board of 
common schools, to make such arrangement with the marshal 
of the United States for the district of North Carolina, or with 
his deputies in the several counties or with such other person 
or persons as he may deem proper, to cause such census to be 
ascertained, together with any other information which he 
may deem important to the establishment of a just and equal 
system of common schools throughout the State : and to com- 
miinicate the same together with a full report of the returns of 
the superintendents in the several counties and the proceed- 
ings of the board of common schools under this act. 

XII. And be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of 
the county trustee, or the agent of public accounts in each 
county, to transmit to the governor as president of the board 
of common schools, a fuU and accurate statement of the whole 
amount of taxes levied and collected in his county for the 
years one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine and one 
thousand eight hundred and forty (excepting the public reve- 
nues paid into the public treasury by the sheriffs), specifying 
in such statement what were the subjects from which taxes 
were levied and how much from each source of taxation; also 
a full and true account of the disbursements of the moneys so 
collected, showing specially what amounts have been paid for 



144 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the prosecution of insolvent criminals, and their maintenance 
in jail; and that such statements shall be returned to the gov- 
ernor on or before the first day of December, one thousand 
eight hundred and forty; and if any county, trustee, or other 
agent of public accounts shall fail to make return as aforesaid, 
he shall forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred dollars, to 
be added to the fund for common schools; and it shall be the 
especial duty of the solicitor of each county to sue for the 
same if any failure shall occur in his county. 

The educational campaign waged in the spring and 
summer of 1839, previous to the elections in August, 
showed a healthy and widespread sentiment in favor of 
schools. Among the discussions the newspaper com- 
ments are of considerable interest.^ The Raleigh Star 
pointed out the educational backwardness of the State 
and urged the people to spread the sentiment for schools. 
It made a peculiarly strong appeal to parents : — 

They have here, no matter what may be their poverty, a 
system which offers to them, in addition to the free education 
of their offspring, the highest gratification which a patriotic 
feeling parent can desire — that of seeing their children en- 
dowed loith sound learning, established in good morals, and quali- 
fied for the responsible duties of popular government. To those 
poor youth of our State who are aiming at honor and eminence, 
the appeal to embrace the advantages of this system comes 
with twofold power. Their ignorance is not to them a reproach 
— nor will they acquire learning under this system as pen- 
sioners upon the public bounty. [The system recommended 
itself as worthy of confidence, continued the editorial.] "Sup- 
port it, if you would strengthen the pillars of representative 
government: Abandon it, if you would quench that Prome- 
thean fire which returned the light of freedom in the western 
world!" 

f The Carolina Watchman called attention to the fact 

that "seven eighths of the money paid as county taxes 

^ See Coon, Public Education in North Carolina, 1790-18^0, a 
Documentary History, vol. ii, pp. 893 ff. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 145 

by the people of North Carohna is laid out in payment 
for court-houses, jails, whipping-posts: in the mainte- 
nance of insolvent persons, and for bringing offenders 
to justice"; and argued that the school tax would not be 
a, burden. The Raleigh Register also argued in favor of 
adopting schools, declaring that education would found 
"on a secure and permanent basis the welfare and honor 
of the State," decrease the number of dangerous dema- 
gogues, and advance the prosperity of the State. The 
Rutherfordton Gazette and the Newhern Spectator likewise 
lent their influence in favor of the plan for schools and 
answered some of the arguments of the opponents. 
Moreover, individual citizens and county officers were 
energetic in the campaign to secure a favorable vote on 
the subject throughout the State. 

Elections to ascertain the voice of the people on the 
subject of schools were held in August, 1839. The ma- 
jority of the counties adopted the scheme outlined by 
the school law, approving the principle of supporting 
schools by a combination of local taxation and the in- 
come from the literary fund. The plan failed to be 
adopted in seven counties: in Rowan, Lincoln, Yancey, 
and Davidson in the west, and in Edgecombe, Wayne, 
and Columbus in the east. Those counties which voted 
for schools were to levy a tax amounting to $20 for each 
school district which was to be supplemented by twice 
that amount from the proceeds of the literary fund. 

The sum of $1200 was immediately raised by local 
taxation for school support which was supplemented by 
the sum of $2400 from the literary fund, making a total 
of $3600 of public funds which went at once to support 
the schools.^ The long agitation for schools had now 
1 See p. 97. 



14G THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

passed, and the State was beginning her noteworthy 
ante-bellum educational career. 

The actual condition of affairs in the State when the 
first school law went into effect is vividly given by Dr. 
Calvin H. Wiley who became the first superintendent of 
schools in North Carolina. Writing in 1881 he said: ^ 

According to the census of 1840, one third of our adult 
whites, by their own statements to the enumerators, were un- 
able to read and write. This is one fact. By the side of this was 
the fact that our sisters had nearly outgrown us in population 
and improvements, and yet it was well known to some, and is 
now a matter of common information, that no part of the world 
enjoyed greater natural advantages. Our resources from soil 
and climate, from minerals and timber, fisheries and water 
power were varied and immense; our colonial and revolution- 
ary history and traditions were honorable; from the establish- 
ment of American independence there was no purer govern- 
ment on earth than that of our own State and municipal 
system, and society was moral, peaceful, and secure. . . . 

But development everywhere around us was more rapid 
than here, and thus, comparatively, our course was downward. 
We labored under one disadvantage, and that was the want of 
streams navigable into the interior; but in other places rail- 
roads were superseding rivers as commercial highways. The 
exuberant soil and cheap lands of the West allured immigrants, 
and rapidly covered that vast region with industrious people; 
but there was no such exodus from other states as from ours, 
and some of our Northern sisters, with sterile lands and harsh 
climate, were in the van of improvement, while States south of 
us, under scorching suns and enveloped in a malarial atmos- 
phere, were not only outstripping us, but constantly draining 
us of our capital and enterprise. . . . 

Concerning the introduction of the school system Dr. 
Wiley said: — 

1 "History of the Common Schools of North Carolina," in the 
North Carolina Educational Journal. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 147 

This population was tenacious of old habits, conservative to 
the point of stubbornness, with no neighboring precedents or 
examples, and no persons trained under such systems. The 
experiment was an absolute novelty in this region, the cause 
occupied little of the thoughts of Southern statesmen, and it 
began among people inured to light taxes and the less inclined 
to be taxed for education from tlie fact that there was a large 
school fund. The accumulation of the fund was a practical and 
strong teaching against current taxation, and since its incep- 
tion the principle of distribution was changed from the basis 
of white to that of federal population, and thus an element of 
sectional jealousy and strife was added to other inherent trials. 
The idea of a charity system was connected with it, rendering 
it obnoxious to many interested in it, and there were no ap- 
pliances for the instruction and training of the vast number of 
managers and teachers immediately needed, while many of the 
"old field" instructors, as the teachers of primary subscription 
schools were called, received it with jealousy, prepared to 
make war upon it. 

From time to time the school law was revised or sup- 
plemented with a view to improvement, the first act of 
this kind being passed in January, 1841, for the "better 
regulation of the common schools." By this law the net 
annual income from the literary fund was to be distrib- 
uted to the various counties on the basis of their federal 
population, and the county court was authorized to levy 
a school tax not to exceed one half of the estimated 
amount which the county was entitled to receive from 
this source. Three district trustees were to be elected by 
popular vote for every district in the county and these 
ofBcers were to have general charge of the local schools 
— to provide the houses, take the school census, employ 
teachers, and visit the schools. The curriculum included 
"any branch of English education," and the schools 
were open to all white children between five and twenty- 
one years of age. Counties which rejected the schools in 



148 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

1839 were by this act given opportunity to vote on the 
matter again with the same privileges and rights allowed 
under the original act. Counties voting against schools 
were to have invested for them by the literary board 
whatever sums they would have received under the ra- 
tio of federal population. Teachers were exempted from 
road, military, and jury duty while teaching. A penalty 
of $50 was prescribed for neglect of any duty on the part 
of county officers. 

The chief of the many obvious defects of the system 
during its early years was the lack of any efficient cen- 
tral supervision. Until 1853, when Dr. Calvin H. Wiley 
became superintendent, the literary board was the chief 
executive head of the schools; during this time the cham- 
pions of education labored blindly, the system being left 
very largely to the direction of local officials, who, 
though interested, were not fitted by training or experi- 
ence to guide the work wisely. Many other evils grew 
out of this fundamental defect. Returns of school statis- 
tics from the counties were irregular and incomplete and 
published reports of educational progress were rare as a 
result. There was no provision for special reports from 
the literary board, and information on the subject of 
schools was lacking. Different counties developed differ- 
ent habits in the control of their schools with the result 
that there was little tendency to encourage a general 
state system. Moreover, the permissive character of the 
legislation was a serious evil. The law left it to the coun- 
ties to say whether or not schools would be adopted, and 
since the plan was a novelty, many of the counties took 
their time in disposing of the matter. It took six years 
after the first schools were established for all the coun- 
ties to adopt the system. And as late as 1844 the justices 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 149 

in some of the counties which had adopted schools 
failed to levy a school tax on the ground that the law 
made it a discretionary rather than an imperative duty 
to do so. The idea of charity which attached to the com- 
mon schools also hindered their progress, helping "to 
raise a barrier between the upper and lower classes of 
society. It seemed as if these schools were to erect a 
fence between the two. It prevented many from send- 
ing their children to these schools," and, declared Dr. 
Wiley, kept many intelligent people from taking any 
active part in their management. 

The friends of the schools soon saw the defects of the 
system and repeatedly urged legislative correction. 
Until 1853 there was no way to ascertain the number of 
schools in operation or any other facts concerning them; 
"for there were no means by which the system could 
observe its own deficiencies, ascertain its own progress, 
and record its own experience." To remedy the permis- 
sive provision for local taxation. Governor Graham in 
1848 suggested that the counties be required to raise 
one half of the amount to be received from the literary 
fund before being entitled to the appropriation from 
that source. The literary board also believed such a re- 
quirement essential to the success of the schools, say- 
ing:— 

It seems, however, to be expedient to require of each county 
imperatively to raise by local taxation, annually, a sum equal 
to at least one half of that received from the State, to the end 
that schools may be maintained, a sufficient portion of each 
year in the several districts, and to withhold from any county 
her share in the State's distribution until her chairman shall 
make the report now required of him by law. 

The requirement was not made, however, and this 



150 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

defect persisted throughout the ante-bellum period and 
for many years longer. 

The change in the principle of distribution of the in- 
come from the literary fund was also unfortunate. By 
the act which created this endowment in 1825 the basis 
of distribution of the income was that of the free white 
population. By act of January, 1841, this basis was 
changed to that of federal population. Not only did this 
change add an element of sectional jealousy, but, as Gov- 
ernor Manly suggested in his message to the Legislature 
in 1860, the change carried 

on its face a ^'iolation of the spirit and object of the injunction 
of the constitution; is a breach of the public faith given by the 
Legislature of 1825; is at variance with the rule in other South- 
ern States; divides the fund not according to public necessity, 
but the wealth of the people, and is in itself unequal and unjust. 

Another diflScult problem confronting the school sys- 
tem was that created by the jealousy of the academies 
and "old field" schools which were numerous in the 
State in 1850. The important place occupied by these 
schools may be seen from a description of them made 
by Dr. Wiley during his superintendency. They were 

taught by persons widely variant in character and qualifica- 
tions. Some of these were seminaries of learning of a high 
order, conducted by men of mark in their day, and whose 
labors have exerted a wide and lasting influence for good, not 
only in this but in many other States; but the large majority 
of teachers instructed only in the elementary branches of 
spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic. English grammar 
was not taught, perhaps, in a majority of the schools, and 
geography as a general thing was an unknown science. The 
textbooks in every branch were few, unattractive, and often 
very defective; but one good result of the want of readers was 
the general use of the holy scriptures, and especially of the New 
Testament. The teacher, in most cases a law to himself and a 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 151 

neighborhood oracle, knew little of the methods of his brethren 
in other places, and never regarded himself as an element of a 
general system; and his progress was only in the mechanical 
art of writing, and from years of practice many became mas- 
ters in penmanship and naturally looked with contempt on 
their brethren of a new generation whose qualifications were 
mental and who had not spent a lifetime in learning to make 
graceful curvatures and flourishes with the quill. 

A further description made in 1855 ^ furnishes other 
interesting facts concerning this type of school : — 

The schoolhouses were few and far between, located in the 
more thickly settled neighborhoods, and bad as our common 
schoolhouses, not at all equal to them as a general thing in 
comfort and convenience of arrangement, while there was not 
a house of any kind expressly dedicated to the purposes of 
teaching for every ten miles square of territory in the State. 

The teachers as a class were indifferent scholars; and I say 
this with high respect for a race among whom there were some 
useful and devoted public servants and benefactors. But much 
as we complain now, salaries then were a good deal lower than 
what they now are; and even had they been equal or larger, 
the advantage in this respect would still belong to the modern 
cash incomes, promptly paid, over the uncertain earnings, 
which were often long delayed and part of which was very 
frequently paid in barter. There were a great multitude of 
little collections to make, and men of active business habits 
were not eager to engage in a calling whose small profits were 
as hard to collect as they were to make. The lazy, the lame, 
the eccentric, the crippled, were but too often the "old field 
teachers"; and while many of them could not write their 
own "articles" (as agreements between teachers and parents 
were called), a collection of those written by the masters would 
form a literary curiosity as unique in style, spelling, and 
chirography as any contribution of the kind that could now be 
made by any class of teachers. 

The studies pursued were spelling, reading, writing, and 
arithmetic; and if those who applied themselves to them in the 

' Leg. Doc., Session 1854-55. 



152 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

old school succeeded better as men and women than those 
who now study in our common schools, it is another illustra- 
tion of the advantages of early hardships, while the praise is 
due mainly to the energy, industry, and perseverance of the 
pupils and not to the schools. 

Grammar and geography were almost wholly unknown in the 
best of these schools, and many of our middle-aged people 
who now read the newspapers teeming with news, from the 
four corners of the earth, all knit together with railroads and 
telegraphs, feel and complain of their ignorance of the latter 
study, and would give much to be able to trace upon the map 
the connections and bearings of countries formerly seldom 
heard of and now mixed up with their nearest political and 
religious interests and affecting the prices even of their produce 
and labor. 

The method of teaching was extremely primitive; to look on 
the book and make a decent droning noise of any kind, not out 
of the common key, would insure immunity from the all-potent 
rod, while this habit of noise, pleasant as it is as a reminiscence, 
because it was the music of our early years, was anything else 
than an advantage to those who really wished to bend their 
minds to study. Hence all these, and all who claimed to be 
such, were allowed to pursue their studies out of doors; and 
among the white heads with which the sunny landscape would 
blossom, perhaps one in every ten would be following out some 
useful train of thought or diving into the mysteries of Dil- 
worth and Pike. He woiJd "work out the sums" for all the 
others, and, as blackboards were unknown, the scholar had but 
to run in, hold up his slate to the teacher, get an approving 
nod, and return to his amusements. There were no lectures, 
few explanations, no oral instruction; to get through the book 
was the great end, and to whip well the paramount means. 
Few and indifferent as these schools were, they were not gen- 
erally kept for a longer term than the great majority of com- 
mon schools now are, and the attendance was equally uncertain 
and irregular. The schools were generally limited to a quarter 
of three months during the coldest part of the winter, and as 
families with two to six children would subscribe half a scholar, 
the house would often be jammed with sixty students and as 
often hold fifteen or twenty. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 153 

Half a scholar! Why, can't we remember when five children 
would biennially get the benefit of the teaching due half a 
scholar for three months; that is, when one and a half months' 
schooling every year, or every two years, would be divided 
among three to five children making six to ten days or more 
apiece! The good old times! which, divested of all romance, 
of all the tender fancies which naturally cluster around the 
recollections of all childhood, were times which tried the soul 
of those who wished to gain a good education and which throw 
their still lingering shadows upon the present age. 

Progress toward reform began to be made in 1850 by 
Governor Manly and other friends of the schools. In 
his message to the Legislature that year,^ the governor 
criticized the school system for deficiencies in organiza- 
tion, accountability, and general management. He 
said : — 

For a period of ten years about $90,000 have been placed 
annually in the hands of the various school committees of the 
State, a sum larger than the whole amount of the State's 
revenue paid into the public treasury during that period. 
This large sum, forming an aggregate of nearly a million of 
dollars, has within this brief period been spent, and yet no 
adequate provision has been made, much less enforced, for 
even informing the people or their representatives of what has 
become of it or how it has been spent. 

Other charges were made against the inefficiency of 
the system. In 1849 the governor had published all the 
laws relating to education and distributed them through- 
out the State, together with an appendix of precedents 
and forms for the convenience of the school officials. 
Under the law the chairman of each board of county 
superintendents was required to furnish to the literary 
board, within the first two weeks of November, an annual 
written report of his school accounts and of other school 

1 Leg. Doc., 1850-5L 



loi THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

statistics, such as the population, enrollment, and length 
of school term. Only seven officials complied with the 
law within the time allowed; and at the time the gov- 
ernor reported to the Legislature in 1850 only about 
half of the counties had performed the duty. For the in- 
complete returns fully $90,000 was left unemployed in 
the hands of the county officials; and probably twice 
that amount for school purposes lay idle in the entire 
State, to say nothing of additional amounts in the hands 
of former officials. The discovery of this condition led 
the governor to say, continuing his message: ^ 

It may be safely stated that thousands of dollars remain 
from year to year in the hands of superintendents, and if a 
rigid settlement were enforced the public would be astounded 
at the aggregate sum thus witliheld from its legitimate destina- 
tion. 

The governor attributed the " general listlessness " in 
the State to the absence of close supervision, and urged 
the immediate appointment of a central officer to super- 
intend the entire system. 

The condition which was found in North Carolina in 
1850 is strikingly similar to the condition which Gov- 
ernor Wise called attention to in Virginia in 1857. It 
was found that the amounts of school money continu- 
ously in the hands of the superintendents of schools in 
that State were more than one third of the total amount 
paid out by them for school purposes. Moreover, on the 
county quotas drawn at the beginning of the year, the 
county superintendents received a commission of five 
per cent and also had continuous use of at least one 
third of the entire quota without any interest charge. 

» Page 20. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 155 

At the current rate of interest this was not an inconsider- 
able sum. From 1852 to 1856 the average annual sum 
expended by the superintendents was about $159,000, 
and the average annual balance left in their hands 
was $52,678, amounting for the five years to more than 
$211,000 on which they received a commission of five 
per cent. The superintendents also had the use, without 
interest charge, of more than $52,000, which annually 
lay unemployed for school purposes. Governor Wise's 
criticism drew attention to the evil and caused immedi- 
ate reform to appear urgent. 

Lack of central supervision accounted for the chief 
weaknesses of the ante-bellum school system in North 
Carolina. Measures for the appointment of an execu- 
tive head had been introduced in the General Assembly 
of 1848-49, but they were rejected. By acts of January 
29, 1849, the courts of pleas and quarter sessions were 
"authorized and empowered, in their discretion," on 
recommendation of the county boards of superintendents, 
to levy annually, when the school tax was levied, an 
additional tax not to exceed $250 for the purpose of 
"employing a suitable and competent person" to visit 
the schools of the county, under rules and regulations 
to be prescribed by the county board. Provision for 
licensing teachers by a county examining board, ap- 
pointed by the county board, had also been made two 
years before. There was still urgent need, however, for 
more central supervision of the school work of the State. 
At the General Assembly of 1850-51, Calvin H. Wiley, 
who was a member of the Legislature from Guilford 
County, introduced a bill which provided for a state 
superintendent, but the measure failed. Two years 
later he was again a member of that body and through 



156 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

his influence an act was passed creating the oflSce of 
superintendent and defining his duties.^ 

This new officer was to be appointed by the Legislature 
for a term of two years at a salary of $1500 to be paid 
out of the literary fund. He was to collect accurate and 
full information concerning the conditions and opera- 
tion of the schools in each county in the State; to inquire 
into the causes which promoted as well as those condi- 
tions which retarded the schools; to consult and advise 
with teachers; to enforce the school laws; to see that 
the school funds were properly applied; to report to the 
governor annually of the educational progress of the 
State; to instruct the state examining committee con- 
cerning the proper qualifications of teachers; to see that 
returns were properly made from the various counties; 
to attend meetings of the state board; to deliver educa- 
tional addresses, and in other ways promote the cause 
of schools. He was also required to codify the educa- 
tional laws of the State. In seeking a man for the posi- 
tion the Legislature naturally turned to Wiley who had 
been so influential in securing the legislation which 
created the office, and who was qualified, by training 
and experience, as well as by his interest in education, 
for educational leadership. The reorganization of the 
schools under his direction and their rapid growth dur- 
ing the next decade will be treated in the following 
chapter. 

» Act of December 4, 1852. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 157 



REFERENCES 

Journals of the House and Senate; Public Laws of North 
Carolina; legislative documents; Coon, Public Education in 
North Carolina, 1790-184-0, a Documentary History; Weeks, 
Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the Common 
Schools in North Carolina; Smith, History of Education in North 
Carolina. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What were some of the difficulties in the way of establish- 
ing a school system in North Carolina before 1840? 

2. Why is the period from 1840 to 1852 called the "experi- 
mental period " ? 

3. Compare the school laws of this period with the present 
law of the State. 

4. Criticize the principle of school support in North Caro- 
hna during this early period. 

5. Note Wiley's comment on the introduction of the school 
' system in 1840. (Page 147.) 

6. When did your county adopt the plan provided for in the 
first school law? 

7. What were the actual educational conditions in the State 
in 1840? 

8. What was the attitude of the academies toward the new 
system? 

9. What was the chief weakness of the school system es- 
tablished by the law of 1839? 



CHAPTER IX 

THE EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY (1853-1865) 

In the preceding chapter it was noted that the second 
quarter of the nineteenth century was the beginning in 
the United States of a period of educational develop- 
ment which is marked by a growing tendency to de- 
mocratization. The close of the first half of that century 
is distinguished for an educational awakening which is 
unique in the history of this country. But this revival, 
so frequently and conspicuously located in New England, 
where it was most noticeable, was not confined exclu- 
sively to any one section of the country. Attempted 
reforms in educational theory and practice were but a 
part of the general reform program in the development 
of democratic ideals. Educationally the storm center of 
this reform was perhaps in Massachusetts and Connec- 
ticut, where Horace Mann and Henry Barnard were 
conspicuous leaders and where educational progress was 
rather spectacular. But a gradual change from English 
ideals, transplanted here in colonial days, was taking 
place in other sections of the country as well as in New 
England during this period. Awakened sentiment for 
popular education appeared in New York, Pennsyl- 
vania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
and Michigan, and in some of the Southern States. 
But slavery and its natural hindrances to a rapid de- 
velopment in public education, and the absence of a 
strong middle class in the South, somewhat delayed the 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 159 

revival of education in that region. And yet there the 
ground for a reorganization of educational effort was 
being rapidly and properly prepared, public opinion 
was being educated, statesmen of vision and broad edu- 
cational traditions appeared who were eager to enlarge 
and extend educational facilities, and a general move- 
ment for free-school systems was rapidly gaining on the 
eve of the war. But for that strife and its disastrous 
results the educational historian would have a differ- 
ent story to tell of the South and her ante-bellum edu- 
cational efforts. 

The educational revival in North Carolina was in 
large measure promoted and strengthened by the leader- 
ship of Calvin H. Wiley; and the history of public educa- 
tion in the State from 1853 to the war is in the main 
his biography and the history of his noteworthy educa- 
tional achievements. Wiley was already widely known 
and popular in the State when he became superintend- 
ent of the schools, having already had an extensive and 
varied experience. He was born in Guilford County, 
February 3, 1819, of Scotch-Irish descent. As a boy he 
showed an extraordinary intellectual ambition for the 
time and was given whatever educational opportunity 
conditions afforded. He was sent to Caldwell Institute 
near his home, where he was prepared for the state 
university, from which he graduated with the class of 
1840. Later he studied law, was admitted to the bar, 
and located in Oxford, Granville County, for the prac- 
tice of his profession. In addition to his legal duties he 
became interested in journalism and edited the Oxford 
Mercury from 1841 to 1843. A few years later he was 
offered the editorship of a Whig newspaper in Charlotte, 
but this position he declined. In 1851 he became asso- 



160 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

sociate editor of the Southern Weekly Post, a newspaper 
published in Raleigh and devoted to civic, educational, 
and industrial improvement. In 1850 he entered poli- 
tics as a Whig member of the Legislature, and it was in 
this capacity that he began certain educational reforms 
which finally won for him an enviable reputation as an 
educational statesman of rare vision and qualities of lead- 
ership. A brilliant career doubtless awaited him as a 
politician and statesman, but he retired from that field 
of service at the age of thirty-three to become the first 
superintendent of the schools of the State. Though a 
Whig, he was elected to his position by a large majority 
of a Democratic Legislature, in December, 1852, and 
assumed the duties of his office, January 1, 1853. 

The absence of any effective supervision between 
1840 and 1852 made his task peculiarly difficult. From 
fragmentary reports found here and there before 1853, 
it is clear that county officials were notoriously negli- 
gent of their duties, a defect which continued for several 
years after Wiley became superintendent, in spite of his 
efforts at improvement. Moreover, teachers were scarce, 
poorly equipped, and migratory, and the great diversity 
of habits among the people of the State made reasonable 
uniformity in school affairs well-nigh impossible. But 
from the day Wiley entered the office until 1866, when 
it was abolished, conditions so improved that at the 
outbreak of the war in 1861 the State laid just claim to 
educational leadership in the entire Southern States. 
This was accomplished largely through the resourceful- 
ness, versatility, and indefatigable toil of the superin- 
tendent. 

During the thirteen years of Wiley's incumbency he 
labored consistently for a complete reorganization and 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 161 

improvement of the educational forces of the State; and, 
considering the obstacles against which he worked, his 
achievements challenge favorable comparison with those 
of Mann and Barnard. His first great care was to arouse 
interest in the cause of popular education, and this he 
did by means of his annual tours through the State. 
These educational campaigns extended through all the 
counties from Murphy in the extreme western, to Cur- 
rituck Court-House in the eastern, part of North Caro- 
lina, the trips usually being made by private convey- 
ance and at Wiley's personal expense. During his first 
year in office such campaigns called for fully half of 
his salary. Later, however, facilities for travel improved 
and less time and money were required for this part 
of his duties. While on these lecture tours he did not 
always receive the encouragement which his sacrifices 
and the cause for which he labored deserved. But his 
courageous heart was never daunted. Before the out- 
break of the war his leadership was so greatly appreci- 
ated that his services were in demand not only in the 
State, but calls frequently came to him from other 
States for lectures, addresses, and educational advice. ^ 
Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia sought to copy 
the educational example of North Carolina, and Wiley 
was invited to appear before the Legislature of Georgia 
for the purpose of aiding that State in improving its 
school system. 

Wiley's task was not easy, however: there was much 
misinformation concerning public education, many 
misconceptions of the work which the superintendent 
was trying to promote, and too often a healthy educa- 
tional spirit was lacking. The system was not without 
1 See p. 63. 



162 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

its enemies who made attacks both on the schools and 
on Wiley; sectional, partisan, and sectarian prejudices 
also increased the diflSculty of management. There were 
fears, which even the superintendent seems to have 
entertained, that the law of 1852 would be repealed. 
Rumors to this effect were especially current in Decem- 
ber, 1854. But the fears were without substantial foun- 
dation and Wiley was reelected without any opposition. 
Through all these troubles, however, the energetic and 
faithful educator so directed the educational system as 
to discover its friends and strengthen the feeble-hearted. 
He had also to "purge" the idea of public education 
"of the fatal taint of charity once adhering to it," and 
to lift it "from the position of a beneficence to a class to 
that of a fundamental interest of all the State." These 
efforts met with encouraging success from the start. He 
was soon able to decrease the danger threatened by 
politics and denominationalism, to enlist the interest of 
academies, high schools, and colleges, and to retain the 
admiration and friendship of his influential political 
opponents. 

Much of the superintendent's time was taken up with 
mere routine. His correspondence with school officers 
alone was enormous, and at a time when typewriters 
and fountain pens were not in use. Moreover, he was 
not allowed a clerk to aid him in a position heavily bur- 
dened with the routine of exacting clerical details, but 
was forced to draw liberally on his own meager salary 
to make provision for this part of his duties. But he 
made use of the public press as freely as possible and 
through articles in the various state papers was able to 
give suggestions to teachers and to instruct the school 
officers in the local communities. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 163 

Many of the conditions which faced the superintend- 
ent when he began his work in January, 1853, are 
described in his first report which appeared in January 
of the following year : — 

The first officer of the kind in the State — expected by some 
partial friends to do more than it was possible for mortal to do, 
while other honest men thought it was impossible to do any- 
thing — seeing in the light of the past but a dim and uncertain 
light, and in the condition of the present a widespread field of 
apparent chaos, brooded over by doubts and despondency, it 
was impossible for me not to err. 

But he begged the public to be charitable and to 
consider the diflficulties of the work, urging immediate 
legislative remedy of the defects which he discovered. 
He visited about half of the counties in 1853. j^He said 
in his report for that year : — 

I determined to go to every county seat in the State, 
and during much of the past year I have been traveling, giv- 
ing notice some days before of my intended visit. . . . My 
inquiries from various parts of the State, from Currituck to 
Cherokee, — and the letters and returns made to me from 
officers and friends of the system, — aU corroborate this state- 
ment. The most universal information given is, that in the 
past year a new start has been taken, and new life has been 
felt: hope and animation have revived, new friends have been 
made, and old friends have resolved to work with redoubled 
eflforts. 

Certain interesting facts concerning the progress of 
schools and education in the State also appear in this 
report. In 1840 there were in North Carolina 2 colleges 
and universities, about 140 academies and grammar 
schools, and 632 so-called primary or common (sub- 
scription) schools. The enrollment in these institutions 
was 158 in the higher institutions, about 4398 in the 
academies, and 14,937 in the other schools, making a 



164 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

total of 19,483. At that time there were fully 57,000 
iUiterate white adults in the State. In 1850 there were 
13 institutions for higher training, and perhaps 300 
academies. The number of primary or common schools 
was not definitely known. The enrollment in the col- 
leges and universities and in the academies had greatly 
increased by 1850 as had also attendance at the com- 
mon schools. In that year 100,591 white children were 
attending some educational institution in the State. 
During the decade from 1840 to 1850 the white popula- 
tion increased only 12 per cent, but the increase in the 
number of children attending schools was nearly 500 
per cent. In 1853, when the first official returns of the 
work of the common schools were made, there were fully 
2500 common schools in North Carolina with an enroll- 
ment of about 95,000. "I am fully warranted," declared 
the superintendent, "in asserting that the average ig- 
norance among the generation now coming on, will be 
at least fifty -per cent less, or only one half as great as 
among those now on the stage of active life in North 
Carolina." The school population of the State at that 
time, however, numbered nearly 195,000. 

In 1853 there were 82 counties in the State and 2828 
school districts. All the counties made more or less 
complete reports except Chowan, Currituck, Jackson, 
McDowell, Madison, and Tyrrell. From two of these, 
Jackson and Madison, which were new counties, re- 
ports were not expected, as they were still under partial 
control of the parent counties, Haywood and Buncombe, 
and had not assumed independent educational organi- 
zations. Schools were taught in 2169 districts in 1853. 
The reports showed that the great majority of the 
teachers were men and that the average monthly salary 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 165 

was about eighteen dollars. The average term was 
about four months. The sum of $180,000 in public 
funds was expended in that year for school support, of 
which amount $120,000 came from the literary fund and 
$60,000 from local taxation.^ 

The scarcity of teachers in the State when Wiley 
became superintendent was another difficulty which 
hindered rapid progress of education. But from his in- 
structions to the county examining committees it was 
evident that the superintendent meant every year to 
elevate the standard of teaching qualifications. Examin- 
ing committees had been provided for since 1847; and by 
the act creating the office of superintendent the principal 
features of the previous act were retained and improved. 
These examining boards were required to hold three 
meetings every year to examine applicants to teach. 
Certificates were valid for only one year at the time and 
in the counties where issued, and only those teachers 
who were properly certificated could participate in the 
benefits of the public school funds. The superintendent 
constantly urged strict conformity to the law so that 
the teachers would gradually improve. He also sought 
to encourage women to become teachers. He believed, 
for certain classes, women would "make the best teach- 
ers. They are more patient, more easily win the affec- 
tions of the young, and are more likely to mold to 
virtuous and refined sentiments, the plastic nature of 
childhood." 

As a further means of improving the professional quali- 
fications of the teachers he urged the formation of library 
associations. "How many teachers in North Carolina 
have read one single book giving an account of the ex- 
» See p. 98. 



166 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

perience and improvements in their profession in other 
places?" he asked, in calling attention to the need of 
legislative assistance in this important work. "If only 
one third of the common-school teachers of North Caro- 
lina could be induced to read the most indifferent work 
on teaching, what a vast change would be perceptible! 
Opposition to new-fangled innovations, is well to a cer- 
tain extent, but . . . the experience of all the world does 
us no good, as we know nothing of any experience but 
our own. Scatter judiciously over the State good copies 
of any good work on teaching and it will create a revolu- 
tion." Wiley's continued effort to encourage improve- 
ment among the teachers finally led to the formation of 
the state teachers' association.^ 

Three things necessary to the success of the school 
system were discussed at length in Wiley's second report 
made in December, 1854.'^ First of all, there was needed 
*' a stricter and more uniform and patient attention to 
the execution of the law." In the second place, the 
improvement of teachers by "some systematic means," 
called for "careful attention, wise oversight, and con- 
stant exertion." "There has been great complaint in 
regard to them; and I know it to be a fact, that this 
incompetency and their want of fidelity in many, many 
cases, have given just cause of complaint. This is a real 
sore, and one of the severest which now afflicts our sys- 
tem; and the character of these teachers has done much 
to disgust a large class of citizens with our system, 
and to cause intelligent people to refuse to send to the 
schools, or to interest themselves in their success." 

The third thing which called for attention was what 
Wiley called "discipline," a term which he used not in a 
» See p. 176. ^ Leg. Dqc, Session 1854-55. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 167 

narrow sense, however. By it he meant general school 
organization, and in his discussion of this "vital point" 
he urged improvement in the program of studies, in the 
classification of the pupils, in equipment and apparatus, 
in textbooks, in methods of teaching, and in other fea- 
tures of the system. 

How often do I hear the complaint that teachers consider 
that they have to Jill out merely a certain number of days, and 
make it their greatest object to kill time instead of improving 
it ! How often is it charged that our old routine is observed, and 
no bad habit forgotten and no good one acquired ! How often 
is it said that parents are put to expense and children put back 
by a constant change of books, while there is no eflFort made 
to classify the children, and a school of fifty scholars will have 
forty classes, each class thus having but a very few minutes to 
recite in, and the teachers no time for lectures, explanations 
or oral instructions. Seven hours are enough for school hours 
in the twenty-four — and ten recitations, fifteen at the farthest, 
is [sic] as many as can be well made and heard in seven hours, 
except recitations by those learning their letters. 

Here he advocated that the teachers 

adapt themselves in manner, tone, ideas, and illustrations to 
every age and every grade; and from the child learning its 
letters to the most advanced youth, all are pleased, all are at 
home, and all are interested, all learn as children learn in the 
family circle, study and innocent pleasure being so blended 
that it is hard to say whether they are making pleasure a study 
or study a pleasure. 

Of course we will not reach this point for a long, long time; 
but we can have blackboards for mathematical recitations, 
we can have public examinations to interest students and 
parents, and try the capacity of teachers; we can have the 
state looking in at each school house, and its voice heard daily; 
we can discard antiquated books, books with new-fangled 
isms. . . . 

There is evidence that the schools were gradually 



168 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

gaining the sympathy and respect of the educational 
and pohtical forces of the State : — 

Professors in colleges, male and female, reposing a confidence 
for which I am grateful, have tried to strengthen my hands, 
and I have felt proud of the fact that since my term of office 
began common schools have enlisted interest and received 
respect in every male college and nearly every female one in 
the State, and from the conventions of both political parties. 
Such influences are lasting and pervading; they must in time 
give a new tone to every society, and it is not one of our least 
misfortunes, that heretofore college professors and college stu- 
dents, as well as a large class of [other] intelligent people, were 
either indifferent to common schools, or treated them with 
actual contempt. 

A decided improvement was noticed in the general 
operation of the school system in 1854. Most of the 
counties made returns to the superintendent showing 
that salaries were gradually increasing, that women were 
slowly entering the teaching ranks, and that there were 
in the State about three thousand school districts and 
nearly as many houses in most of which schools had 
been maintained during the year. The school popula- 
tion and enrollment were somewhat larger than the 
year before. "The information generally received . . . 
is that the schools are improving, that hopes are re- 
viving, interest in them deepening and spreading, and 
the grade of teachers being elevated." 

Many other signs of improvement were evident in the 
superintendent's third annual report which covered the 
year 1855.^ The official returns from the various counties 
had been received earlier than usual and were fuller and 
more satisfactory. There was a gratifying contrast be- 
tween the reports for that year and the previous years, 

1 Leg. Doc. 9. Session 1856-57. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 169 

and a noticeable tendency on the part of school officers 
to a more faithful performance of their duties. The 
superintendent had examined the school systems of other 
States and had also collected the opinions of officers and 
teachers at home, and he felt encouraged at the com- 
parisons. But much work remained to be done, and the 
task was delicate and difficult. 

Tender nursing, good food, and regular habits in the system 
were all-important: every change was to be closely observed, 
every irregularity touched with a most cautious hand, every 
effort used to make the schools grow in efficiency and useful- 
ness as well as in public affection. ... It was easy to give 
opiates and tonics : but how was the glow of permanent health 
to be infused into a system, not mortally sick, but wasted and 
emaciated with obstinate, compUcated chronic disorders? 

In spite of the imperfections of the system, however, 
"there has been a real revolution, an entire and radical 
change of things for the better in the last three years." 
The standard of the teachers had "unquestionably 
greatly advanced," and fully "nine tenths of the children 
of the State, it is hoped and believed, attend the com- 
mon schools at some time or another — and certainly 
fifteen sixteenths of our youth are getting an education 
of some sort." 

Seventy-five counties reported their school statistics 
on time and sixty of these in conformity to the law. 
Fifteen counties were deficient in certain minor details 
of information, and ten lacked the certificates of the 
finance committees and of the clerk of the county court 
to the financial statement. Fully 130,000 children were 
enrolled in 2800 schools, and about 2000 teachers had 
been regularly licensed during the year. This was a 
noteworthy evidence of progress. Four years before 



170 THE PUBUC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

there were probably not more than two hundred teach- 
ers in the State who had been once examined and certif- 
icated. It was estimated, however, that in spite of this 
improvement there were approximately five hundred 
^^^who were teaching without legal certificates in 1855. 
The average school term was four months and "the 
average salary, everything considered, is nearly as high 
as it is anywhere in the United States." Besides being 
"certain cash," the salaries of teachers were much 
"higher than the wages of teachers in the old-fashioned 
country schools were — the school houses are better, 
and the average scholarship higher," and the teachers 
were annually improving. The superintendent declared 
that female teachers in the common schools of North 
Carolina "received higher salaries than in any other 
State in the Union. "^ 

There is everywhere, more confidence, more hope, more life, 
more public spirit, a greater sense of responsibility — and 
the tendency this way is increasing. Inveterate difficulties in a 
number of counties have been healed, it is hoped and believed 
permanently cured. With the improvement of teachers, wages 
have advanced, the number of school districts not taught has 
decreased, and the average time of keeping schools open has 
been lengthened, and the number of children taught greatly 
increased — while colleges, academies and high schools have 
been induced to lend their influence in favor of instead of 
against this great system, and politicians and parties have 
come to recognize in it the great hope of the country. 

^ The statistics which he gave in this connection showed the average 
monthly salaries of men and of women teachers in the public schools 
of several States to be as follows: Connecticut, men, $18.50, women, 
$8.50, including board; Illinois, men, $25, women, $12; Indiana, men, 
$23.01, women, $15.62; Iowa, men, $19.61, women, $9.39; Massachu- 
setts, men, $37.76, women, $15.88; New Hampshire, men, $17.38, 
women, $7.83; Pennsylvania, men, $19.25, women, $12.03; Wisconsin, 
men, $21.10, women, $10.87; North Carolina, men, $21, women, $18. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 171 

Certain means of general and permanent improve- 
ment in the school system were suggested. The school 
law needed to be made more generally known and its 
objects more widely understood. A more rigid enforce- 
ment of the laws was also advocated. There was need 
of pervading "the public mind, especially the young 
mind of the State, with more accurate and interesting 
information concerning its history, its resources, and 
its institutions." The professional qualifications of 
the teachers also needed to be gradually elevated. But 
there appeared no specific remedy by which this could 
be immediately accomplished; curative means neces- 
sarily had to be slow. Normal schools could not im- 
mediately solve the problem — the schools themselves, 
the superintendent believed, were the agency through 
which an adequate supply of comparatively competent 
teachers could be furnished. Finally, there was need 
for an interchange of ideas and needs of the teachers 
and the various school officers, and some organ or chan- 
nel of communication was recommended. To supply this 
the superintendent urged the formation of a state 
teachers' association and the establishment of an edu- 
cational journal. 

The most important means of training teachers for 
the public schools of the State during this period was 
furnished by Braxton Craven at Normal College, in 
Randolph County. He became principal of Union In- 
stitute in 1842 and immediately his interest in all phases 
of public education, especially that of training teachers 
for the public schools, began to grow. At that time there 
was no executive head of the school system in the State 
and teachers were without the means of preparation and 
training for the important work which they were called 



172 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

upon to do. Of his fitness for training teachers, Pro- 
fessor E. C. Brooks says: — 

It is quite probable that no man of his generation was a 
more thorough student of educational problems and had a 
keener insight into the needs of the common schools than had 
Braxton Craven. The greatest essential need in America in 
the forties was for teachers who knew how to organize a school, 
classify pupils, and instruct them in the elementary branches. 
Craven was a tireless worker, omnivorous reader, and a care- 
ful student. He collected all the information on those subjects 
to be found in Europe and the United States, and in 1848 he was 
ready to begin a plan of teaching training at Union Institute 
that, within a few years, attracted the attention of the entire 
State. In introducing the normal feature into his institution 
he was following the practices in New York and other States, 
where teacher-training classes were organized in connection 
with academies and supported in part by state appropriations. 
That feature was popular in Union Institute, for in 1850 he 
wrote that the normal class that had been in training the 
previous year was very large. ^ 

In 1850 Craven published in pamphlet form a very- 
comprehensive plan for teacher training. Discussing 
needed reforms in education in the State, he said : " We 
must have] normal schools. We can never reach any 
eminence without them. All endowments and enact- 
ments will be in vain without skillful workmen to put 
them into operation." The treatise was widely distrib- 
uted in the State and created a strong opinion in favor 
of legislative aid to the training of teachers. When the 
General Assembly met in 1850 Union Institute was 
changed to Normal College and authority was given the 
institution to issue certificates to its graduates, as "suf- 
ficient evidence of ability to teach in any of the com- 
mon schools in this State, without reexamination of the 

1 "Braxton Craven and the First State Normal School," in Trinity 
Alumni Register, vol. i. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 173 

county committees." Two years later a new charter was 
granted Normal College, with the governor and the state 
superintendent ex officio president and secretary, re- 
spectively, of the trustees, and a loan of $10,000 was 
made to the institution from the literary fund. The fol- 
lowing year the college opened with 195 students, and 
the teacher-training courses, now the most important 
work of the institution, required three years for com- 
pletion. From this time until 1859, when the name was 
changed to Trinity College and all state relations 
severed. Normal College continued its work of preparing 
teachers for the public schools of North Carolina.^ 

In this great work Braxton Craven, who was instinc- 
tively a teacher, was the moving spirit. Teaching was 
almost a passion with him; he regarded it as an art great 
and difficult to master. Much of his educational phi- 
losophy is sound to-day: 

He is the best teacher in any given ease who arouses the 
student to energetic action, directs his efforts in the right way 
to consistent, worthy, and noble ends; causes him to form 
manly, tasteful, and proper habits, and creates within him a 
thirst for knowledge and personal excellence that will bear 
him firmly through all the allurements of dissipation, the 
dazzling splendor of prosperity, or the deep, dark gloom of 
poverty. 

And again he says : — 

If a teacher cannot clothe with fascination the symbolic col- 
umns of the spelling book, the maxims and stories of the reader, 
the principles and problems of arithmetic, the definitions and 
exercises of grammar, and all other subjects he proposes to 
teach, he has embarked in the wrong profession, and should 
at once and forever abandon that for which he is not qualified. 

^ Craven's efforts to promote public education led him into educa- 
tional journalism, and in 18j0 lie began publishing the Southern Index, 



174 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

In 1855 the school law was revised and somewhat im- 
proved though its principal provisions remained prac- 
tically the same as before.^ The revision was intended 
largely to simplify the law, to provide for improving the 
quality of the teachers, and to secure more faithful 
service from other school officers. This action of the 
Legislature showed a healthy public sentiment and a 
ready and sympathetic response to the appeals and 
exertions of the superintendent. Everywhere his in- 
fluence was seen in the supplementary school legislation. 
In most cases he was the author of the school laws en- 
acted after his election to the superintendency. 

The fifth report on the work of the schools appeared 
in January, 1858, and covered the year 1857.^ There 
was much evidence that the schools were gradually im- 
proving. "The change in public sentiment among all 
classes of the people is marked and cheering," said 
Wiley, who felt greatly encouraged. Eighty of the 
eighty -five counties made fuller and more satisfactory 
reports than had been made in any previous years, and 
the returns showed marked advancement. The school 
population numbered 220,000 and the enrollment in the 
common schools was 150,000. Several thousand more 
were taught in academies, select and private schools, at 
home, and in Sunday schools. There was a school in 
every district and a schoolhouse for nearly every school. 

a bi-monthly sixteen-page magazine for teachers. It had a short life, 
however, and in December of that year was changed to the Evergreen, 
a purely literary magazine, which was likewise short-lived. 
, 1 Act of February 10, 1855. 

2 Wiley's fourth report was made in November, 1856, soon after his 
third report appeared. It was more of a special than a general report 
and dealt largely with the need for teachers' library associations and 
with the importance of the educational journal, which first appeared 
the previous September. Few new or important statistics were given. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 175 

These houses are in reach of twenty-nine thirtieths of all 
the children of the State. It is now a fixed habit to have a 
school every year or once in every two years at these houses ; 
and these schools are taught by persons of whom at least nine- 
teen twentieths are annually examined as to moral and men- 
tal qualifications by respectable and intelligent committees in 
the counties where they teach. There are in the State not 
less than three thousand five hundred schools — and twenty- 
four out of every twenty-five of aU the white children of the 
State are obtaining an education. 

The common school property of the State was valued 
at $350,000. The schools were operating at an annual 
cost of $250,000, ninety-five per cent of which went to 
pay teachers' salaries.^ The number of teachers exam- 
ined and certificated in 1857 was 2500.^ The superin- 
tendent believed that not more than fifty teachers 
were employed in the public schools who did not have 
the proper licenses. Three fourths of those legally cer- 
tificated taught grammar and geography. The average 
school term was four months, the average monthly 
salary paid teachers was $24, and the average attend- 
ance was about forty pupils to the school. 

There appeared about this time two other noteworthy 
signs of general improvement in educational conditions in 
North Carolina. One of these was the establishment of 
an educational magazine as the official state teachers' 
organ, and the other was the formation of a teachers' 
association. For several years Wiley had advocated the 
creation of these auxiliary agencies and finally his ef- 
forts were crowned with success; and as head of the 

^ Corrected returns show that about $271,000 was expended on the 
common schools in 1857. 

^ The difference between the number of teachers and the number 
of schools is accounted for by the fact that many teachers frequently 
conducted as many as two or more schools in a year. 



176 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

school system, president of the teachers' association, 
and editor of the teachers' journal, he served the State 
in a threefold educational capacity. 

The organization of the teachers, officially known as 
the "Educational Association of North Carolina," 
sprang from preliminary teachers' meetings held in 
Goldsboro in May, 1856, and in Salisbury the following 
October. Both of these assemblies were large and har- 
monious and were attended by the leading teachers and 
friends of education in the State. At the meeting in 
Salisbury a permanent association was formed, and the 
first annual session was held in Warrenton in July, 1857. 
At this time the constitution was formally adopted and 
plans perfected for a career of great usefulness. Several 
county affiliated teachers' societies immediately ap- 
plied for constitutions. Other annual meetings of the 
association before the collapse of the Confederacy were 
held in Statesville, in 1858; in Newbern, in 1859; in 
Wilmington, in 1860; in Greensboro, in 1861; and in 
Lincolnton, in 1862. Wiley was the chief spirit in the 
formation and direction of the organization and through 
his leadership the cooperation and support of public 
men, lawyers, ministers, and teachers were secured for 
public education. The annual meetings were filled with 
discussions of normal schools, textbooks, school equip- 
ment, methods of teaching, the course of study, grading 
the schools, and other important subjects. The asso- 
ciation was incorporated by the Legislature at its ses- 
sion in 1860-61,^ and was assisted by the state treasury 
to the amount of $600 a year. At the outbreak of the 
war it was rapidly extending itself through the organiza- 
tion of local county associations. Through this agency, 
1 Act of February 23, 18G1. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 177 

as through educational journalism, the superintendent 
was developing and strengthening the common school 
cause, which was constantly growing in popularity and 
usefulness. 

Wiley also worked to secure further educational ad- 
vancement for the state through the North Carolina 
Journal of Education which he likewise fathered and 
fostered with marked devotion. In this auxiliary agency, 
which during its early career fluctuated in success, Wiley 
not only put much time and energy but several hundred 
dollars, which he finally lost. The plan of the magazine 
was outlined in the superintendent's report for 1855. 
In the summer of 1856 he succeeded in selling the ad- 
vertising space to reputable publishers (G. and C. Mer- 
riam and A. S. Barnes and Company) for a sum suflS- 
cient to defray the entire cost of thirty-five hundred 
copies of a quarterly magazine of thirty-two octavo 
pages. The superintendent was highly gratified at its 
promise of success, and the Journal appeared in Sep- 
tember, 1856, but failure to retain the advertisers caused 
it to suspend after the first year. Meanwhile, however, 
the educational association was formed and steps were 
taken to promote the magazine through this body. 
Under its auspices the Journal began to appear again 
in January, 1858, with Wiley as editor-in-chief, assisted 
by J. D. Campbell and a board of editors representing 
all the educational interests of the State, both public and 
private. The magazine proved unexpectedly popular 
and was supported alike by public-school ofiicials, col- 
lege professors, and others whose contributions on edu- 
cational matters helped to fill its pages. Through it 
Wiley made every effort to advance the cause which was 
nearest his heart. Legal provision was made in 1860 by 



178 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

which copies of the magazine were sent to all school of- 
ficers and paid for by the public-school funds, and its in- 
fluence was thus widely extended throughout the State. 
The Journal continued until near the close of the war 
when difficulty of securing paper, and the destruction 
of the plant in which the magazine was printed, forced 
it to suspend. Considering that one half of its exchanges 
were compelled to suspend two years before, it is indeed 
remarkable that the publication was able to continue so 
long and in the face of such discouraging difficulties. 

In his report for 1858, the superintendent said of these 
agencies: — 

The State Educational Association, embracing all the edu- 
cational interests of the State, is now on a firm foundation; 
and one of its chief objects is to stimulate the cause of common 
schools. Its organ, the North Carolina Journal of Education, 
has been pronounced by competent authority, one of the best 
periodicals of the kind on the American continent; and wliile 
its circulation is increasing among the officers and teachers of 
common schools, energetic efforts have been adopted to push 
it, if possible, into nearly all the districts of the State. 

Of the progress of the schools in 1858 the superin- 
tendent said in his sixth report : — 

Some of the hopeful manifestations which are not only felt 
by one in my position, but can also be made appreciable to the 
common apprehension are: First, an evidently increasing 
sense of responsibility on the part of the subordinate officers. 
Secondly, more energetic and enlightened action on the part 
of boards of county superintendents. Thirdly, the general, 
gradual, but certain elevation of the standard of teachers' 
qualifications. Fourthly, obvious influences for good among 
all classes, and in various places, caused by increasing efforts to 
disseminate useful information and statistics. Fifthly, the 
successful formation of associations intended to combine the 
exertions of the friends, of all classes, of general education. 
Sixthly, the general disappearance of all prejudices, and in- 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 179 

veterate difficulties arising from honest prejudice, and from 
ignorance. Seventhly, an increased and increasing animation 
and hopefulness on the part of friends of the cause among all 
ranks of society, and in every part of the State. 

Most of the counties in 1858 made official returns suf- 
ficiently complete and early enough to enable a reliable 
estimate of school conditions to be made. The school 
population now numbered approximately 225,000 and 
155,000 were enrolled in 3700 common schools. This 
estimate was " based on certain data and cannot be an 
exaggeration," the superintendent declared. The aver- 
age school term and the average salary paid teachers 
were practically the same as reported the previous year. 
The average expenditure for each county was $3114, 
and the total for the State about $265,000. A continued 
improvement was evident in the qualifications for teach- 
ers and in the enforcement of the law on certification. 
Concerning the success of the system reference was made 
to the schools of Madison County, "a rugged mountain 
country, as broken, perhaps, as any part of the peopled 
area of the United States. It has no navigable streams, 
not much arable soil, or mineral wealth, or rich pasture 
land — and for much of the year, the climate is cold 
and bleak." The school population of this county was, 
males, 1226, females, 1068; and 1131 boys and 884 girls 
were attending the common schools. "What a light is 
here beaming among those barren and craggy heights ! " 
exclaimed the superintendent. 

Wiley's seventh report, covering 1859,^ showed re- 
turns from eighty-one counties. The five delinquent 
counties were Alleghany, Anson, Haywood, Johnston, 
and Lenoir, in all of which certain incidental causes 

» Leg. Doc. 9, Session 1860-61. 



180 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

explained the failure to make returns on time. In spite 
of the delayed reports from these counties there was a 
manifest improvement in the character and efficiency 
of the local school officers of the State. The school pop- 
ulation in seventy-four counties was 186,000, and for 
the entire State it was estimated at 230,000. The school 
attendance in seventy-seven counties was 108,000 with 
an estimated enrollment for the entire State of 155,000. 
Seventy-nine counties reported 2758 schools in operation ; 
seventy-one counties showed that 2066 teachers had 
been licensed; the average school term was four months, 
and the average monthly salary paid teachers was $28.^ 
The receipts for school purposes in seventy counties 
were $279,000 and the expenditures in the same counties 
were $235,000. Local school taxes collected averaged 
about $1238 to the county, making a total for the State 
of more than $100,000; and expenditures for school pur- 
poses averaged about $3300 to the county, making a 
total for the State of about $285,000. There was a grow- 
ing tendency to build new and better schoolhouses, and 
improvement in the qualifications of teachers was like- 
wise growing. Among the recommendations made to 
the Legislature, the superintendent urged the State to 
furnish means of placing the Educational Journal and 
the State Teachers' Association on a firmer foundation, 
and to elevate the standard of teachers by enlarging 
the course of study, by requiring more thoroughness in 
the subjects taught, and by requiring teachers to avail 
themselves of the opportunities offered for improvement 

* A comparison of the average monthly salaries paid in other 
States at this time is suggestive: Massachusetts, $34.75; Connecticut, 
$23.75; New Hampshire, $19.72; Ohio, $20.42; Wisconsin, $20.97; 
Illinois, $24.57. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 181 

through the Journal and the state and county educa- 
tional associations. 

The eighth annual report of the work of the schools, 
for 1860, appeared a little more than two months before 
the State seceded.^ The close similarity in statistics 
in this and in the reports for the three previous years 
was evidence of the gratifying regularity of the opera- 
tion of the school system. Eighty-one counties reported 
statistics for the year. It was estimated that the school 
population numbered 221,000, that 150,000 children 
were enrolled in more than 3000 schools, and that more 
than 2700 teachers had been licensed during the year. 
It was also estimated that more than $100,000 had been 
collected in local school taxes. The school term was 
practically the same as in 1859, but the average monthly 
salary paid teachers was somewhat less than in the 
previous year.^ 

The ninth annual report, for the school year 1861-62,^ 
was made December, 1862,* and showed that sixty -five 
counties made more or less complete official returns of 
school statistics. A school population of 118,802 was 
reported in forty-six counties, and fifty-nine counties 
reported a school attendance of 52,018. The superin- 
tendent believed that 65,000 children were actually 
enrolled in the common schools of the State. More 
than 1200 teachers had been licensed, and more than 
1500 schools were reported in operation, with an aver- 
age term of nearly three months. The actual disburse- 
ments for common schools in sixty counties amounted to 

1 Leg. Doc. 10, Session 1860-61. 

2 In 1860 the average monthly salary was $26. 

^ The Legislature of 1860-61, for the sake of convenience and uni- 
formity, changed the school year. 
* Leg. Doc. 9, Session 1862-63. 



182 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

$117,924. By this time counties had been released 
from the obligation of laying taxes for schools, and the 
small amounts received from the distribution of the lit- 
erary fund income were insufficient to maintain schools 
as long as usual. The superintendent urged on the local 
authorities the following course of action: to keep in 
perfect order the framework and machinery of the sys- 
tem; to supply the places of male teachers called to the 
war with qualified female teachers,^ and to continue 
schools wherever competent female teachers could be 
secured; to license only the competent and loyal ones; 
and to maintain as high a standard of qualifications as 
the conditions would allow. 

In spite of the difficulties caused by the excitement of 
the times and the absorbing interest in the war, which 
naturally decreased the attention given to school affairs, 
the educational machinery continued to operate with 
surprising consistency. The schools still lived, but 
official returns gradually decreased in completeness. In 
his report for 1863 ^ the superintendent gave statistics 
for that year as follows: thirty -six counties reported a 
school population of 95,259, and fifty counties reported 
35,495 children in regular attendance in 1076 schools; 
forty-four counties reported 872 teachers who had that 
year been properly certificated; the average school term 
was three months; teachers' salaries averaged $25 per 
month; female teachers were on the increase; deprecia- 
tion of the currency caused financial embarrassment for 
the schools; and on account of the more reliable class of 
citizens being at war, active district committees were 
difficult to secure. With all these obstacles, however, 

^ Teachers were subject to conscription in North Carolina. 
' Leg. Doc. 9, Session 1863. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 183 

in the darkest hour of the Confederacy, with every nerve 
and muscle wrought to the highest tension in a disas- 
trous and unexampled struggle for life, the State still 
maintained a school system surprisingly vigorous and 
useful. The superintendent believed that fully 50,000 
children were that year enrolled in the common schools 
of the State. 

Faith in the schools and in the outcome of the struggle 
led Wiley to continue his annual recommendations to 
the Legislature and his suggestions to local officers for 
school improvement. The great defect of the schools, 
according to the superintendent, was their horizontal 
character, "furnishing one kind of education for children 
of all ages, and of every degree of advancement." But 
the schools had elevated the standard of popular intel- 
ligence, and had increased the demand for higher schools. 
At the meeting of the teachers' association in Newbern, 
in 1859, graded schools and teacher training were among 
the principal subjects discussed. A committee was 
appointed to investigate the matter of graded schools 
and to make a report at the next meeting. A plan was 
accordingly formulated and approved by that body 
the following year, and a bill based on it was before the 
Legislature when the war began. Wiley labored for the 
passage of the measure, but its permissive character, as 
well as many other defects, finally brought the plan to 
naught. A similar bill was introduced in the Assembly 
in 1863, passed the House, and was reported favorably 
by the Committee on Education in the Senate. But lack 
of time forced it to be tabled, and there the measure 
rested until the following year, when an act to grade the 
schools was passed. ^ In this connection it should be noted 
1 Act of December 23, 1864. 



184 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

that just before the outbreak of the war a movement was 
begun to establish a graded school at Wilmington, and 
an enthusiastic public meeting was held for the purpose 
in April, 1860. The tendency to train teachers through 
institutes was also rapidly gaining at the same time.^ 

A wholesome educational sentiment continued dur- 
ing the war and every possible effort was made 
to foster and preserve the schools. In the summer of 
1861, soon after hostilities began, the press of the State 
urged renewed efforts to prevent a suspension of the 
schools. "In the name of the good people, and espe- 
cially the children of the State, let none of the schools 
be abandoned, if possible," advised the Raleigh Stand- 
ard. And the Charlotte Democrat declared that "the chil- 
dren of the State must be taught to read and write, war 
or no war." In November, 1864, in his message to the 
Legislature, Governor Vance said : — 

The subject of our common schools is one which I beg 
you will not forget amid the great concerns of war. ... I 
earnestly recommend to your consideration the whole subject, 
and especially the system of graded schools advocated by the 
superintendent, for which memorials will be presented by the 
literary board and the Educational Association of North 
Carolina. I also suggest that regular teachers be exempted 
from state military duty whilst employed in teaching. Though 
fully aware of the importance of their vocation, I have not felt 

^ The first institute held in the State was conducted at Graham, in 
Alamance County, in May, 1860. The work was in charge of W. H. 
Doherty, who conducted a private school at Graham, and continued 
for one week. Doherty came from Antioch College, Ohio, where he 
had been associated with Horace Mann, and opened a school in Gra- 
ham about 1855. In 1861 he went to Newbern where he had charge 
of an academy which also had a normal feature. In 1859 the Wilson 
Female Seminary had normal classes and the Goldsboro Female Col- 
lege had similar work in 1860. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 185 

at liberty to excuse them under existing laws.^ The common 
schools should surely be kept going at anj^ cost; and if suf- 
ficient inducements can be offered to disabled soldiers and 
educated women to take hold of them, the necessary males 
should be exempted. ... It is with pride that I observe the 
publication in our State of various new schoolbooks, creditable 
alike to the authors and to the public which has demanded 
them. Our great system of common schools is, after all, our 
only true and solid foundation for pubUc education and de- 
mands your constant and fostering care. 

Throughout the dark days the schools continued to 
operate with unexpected regularity and] consistency, 
and as late as April, 1865, when Johnston surrendered, 
the superintendent was receiving official returns from 
the various counties. But the gradual depreciation of 
Confederate currency and the loss of the school funds 
finally brought disaster to the schools. The literary 
fund had remained untouched for military purposes, 
but Confederate securities had been encouraged 
throughout the war, and it was difficult to change the 
form of investments. The principal of the school fund 
was invested in bank and railroad stock ^ and there it 
seemed reasonably safe. But the banks had themselves 
invested heavily in Confederate securities, and in the 
wreck which came to the banking system of the State 
at the close of the war, the literary fund was lost. With 
it went the principal means of school support and the 
basis of the State's creditable school system. 

Wiley's eleventh and last report was made in January, 

^ By act of 1863 college professors "and teachers in academies were 
exempted from service in the home guards." Persons "engaged in 
editing or publishing classical or common-school books and all persons 
actually engaged in printing or binding such books" were also ex- 
empted from military service. 

^ See chap. vi. 



1 



186 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

1866,^ but little information concerning the operation 
of the schools during the last year of the war is given. 
The old regime was rapidly passing, and the system of 
schools into which Wiley ^ had put so much earnest labor 
soon collapsed with the fall of the Confederacy. During 
the dark days which followed, while efforts were being 
made to reestablish the relations of the State with those 
of the national government, other matters absorbed 
public interest and schools and the means of education 
received little attention. With the constitutional con- 
vention of 1868 and the process of congressional re- 
construction, attention turned again to education. The 
story of its fortunes and the operation of the schools dur- 
ing that period will be told in another chapter. 

From the foregoing treatment of public-school educa- 
tion in North Carolina it can be seen that the law of 
1839 and its revisions, in spite of the weaknesses of the 
system thus provided for, made creditable provisions 
for educational enterprise. State, county, and local 
district organizations were formed and the plan of school 
support, by a combination of local taxation and the 
income from the literary fund, proved well suited to the 
conditions of the time, and proved popular and eflficient. 
The literary fund, as was seen in Chapter VI, stimu- 
lated a healthy sentiment in favor of local taxation, 
which was rapidly increasing at the outbreak of the war. 
It was estimated that more than $100,000 was collected 
in local school taxes in 1860. In that year about $280,000 
of public funds was expended on public-school education. 
In 1859 the estimated school population was 230,000 
and 155,000 children were enrolled in school. The aver- 
» Leg. Doc. 47, Session 1865-66. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 187 

age monthly salary paid teachers was $28, and the aver- 
age school term was four months. These facts appear 
especially striking when it is considered that the aver- 
age term in the State as late as 1900 was less than in 
1860, and that the average salary paid teachers in 1900 
was only about $22.50. 

The educational achievements of these years were 
due in large measure to the untiring labors of the super- 
intendent, and to his genius for leadership and organi- 
zation. We have already noted his threefold educational 
services as superintendent^ editor of the educational 
journal) and director of the state teachers' organization. 
But his activities were not confined to these enterprises, 
however extensive in reforms they may have been. 
Another effective means of disseminating reform and 
improvement was through his annual reports which be- 
gan in 1854 and continued until 1866. These reports 
were intended to give information concerning the condi- 
tion of the schools and the progress they were making; 
to discuss the weaknesses of the system and to make sug- 
gestions for improvement; and finally they were used 
as a means of creating and directing public opinion on 
the great subject of universal and free public education. . 
In these reports and in Wiley's prolific writings in the 
North Carolina Journal of Education are found his 
practical educational doctrines. His philosophy of edu- 
cation was not complicated. Throughout one very def- 
inite point of view is held: that public education is the 
only sure and safe foundation in a democratic society, 
and that a " system of common schools for a great and 
growing state is a vast and sublime moral organization.'* 
While these doctrines may now appear commonplace 
and trite, it must be remembered that when Wiley urged 



188 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

them they were not familiar, and that their gradual ac- 
ceptance in North Carolina is in no mean measure due to 
the work of her pioneer educational statesman and leader. 

Through his textbooks Wiley rendered still another 
important service to the cause of education in North 
Carolina. Before his election as superintendent of the 
schools he had published at his own expense The North 
Carolina Reader, which went through several editions 
and became a standard in the schools until after the 
war. When it first appeared the book was received with 
enthusiasm and was adopted by all classes of teachers. 
One of the noteworthy services rendered by the book 
was the wholesome spirit which it created and fostered 
among the masses of the people of the State. When Wiley 
became superintendent he disposed of his interest in the 
work, but other volumes were later produced under his 
direction, and these became, along with the first book, 
very extensively used as readers in the schools during 
the ante-bellum period. 

Wiley's educational ideals were lofty. He believed 
that education should be universal, free, and open alike 
to all, both rich and poor. So devoted was he to this 
principle that at the close of the war he was very decided 
in his advocacy of the education of the freedmen.^ He 
also believed that public education could easily be so 
well developed that aristocratic ideas, as they were 
reflected in the patronage of private schools, would die 
away and the superiority of the public school be univer- 
sally recognized. In this respect he shows a striking 
similarity to Horace Mann. Finally, Wiley was deeply 
religious, and he sought to apply to education every- 
where the ideals of the Christian faith. 

1 See the Greensboro Patriot, March 26, 1879. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 189 

Religion and education must go together; and while con- 
templating the possibility of a future generation of North 
Carolinians wholly enlightened and universally able to take 
care of themselves, in a worldly point of view, I cannot but 
feel a deep solicitude that it should not be an infidel genera- 
tion, devoted to Mammon, and ready to abase itself to all 
the strange gods which the wicked inventions of men may 
create. ... It is my desire that all children shall be taught to 
read, and taught by those whose lives illustrate the beauties of 
a heart disciplined to good; and that when enabled to read they 
be allowed to read for themselves the revelations of Heaven's 
will to man. 

While Wiley achieved much, in the stimulation of in- 
terest in education and in making friends for the cause, 
his work did not stop there. He was a practical reformer 
and was concerned with the material as well as with 
the spiritual side of education. His reports were full of 
recommendations and suggestions for improvement in 
the school machinery and the material equipment. 
Nothing rejoiced him quite so much as to be able to 
report the improvement of an old or the building of a 
new schoolhouse. He was likewise eager to improve the 
textbooks in use and to develop, by scientific training 
and the application of sound methods of teaching, a body 
of intelligent and active teachers. In most of these re- 
spects he was able during his thirteen years of distin- 
guished service to effect noteworthy reforms and to 
place the schools in the sympathies of all classes. He 
showed familiarity with the systems of public schools 
in this country and in Europe, and saw much merit in 
the Prussian system to which he frequently referred. 

He remained in office after the war until the ordi- 
nance of October 19, 1865, of the constitutional con- 
vention, declared vacant all state offices which were in 
existence April 26 of that year. His final report was 



190 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

made in January of the following year, and two months 
later the office of superintendent of schools was abol- 
ished by the Legislature.^ He soon retired to private 
life. In 1869 he was appointed general agent of the 
American Bible Society for a part of Tennessee, and 
later for the Carolinas, in which work he continued until 
his death. In 1872 and again four years later he was 
proposed as the Conservative candidate for the super- 
intendency of schools. In the former year he was kept out 
by political disability, and in the latter he refused to be 
a candidate because the public schools had been brought 
into politics. During his remaining years he was active 
in local educational matters. He was largely instrumen- 
tal in establishing the graded school in Winston and 
served as chairman of the school board of that city until 
his death, January 11, 1887. 

REFERENCES 

House and Senate Journals; Public Laws of North Carolina; 
Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
1853-66; North Carolina Journal of Education, 1856-63; 
Brooks, "Braxton Craven and the First State Normal School," 
in Trinity Alumni Register, vol. i; Weeks, Calvin Henderson 
Wiley and the Organization of the Common Schools of North 
Carolina; Smith, History of Education in North Carolina; 
Knight, The Influence of Reconstruction on Education in the 
South. 

1 Act of March 10, 1866. 



EDUCATIONAL REVIVAL UNDER WILEY 191 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. In what respects were the educational problems which 
faced Horace Mann similar to those which confronted 
Calvin H. Wiley? 

2. In what respects were their educational achievements 
similar? 

3. Compare Wiley's philosophy of education with Mann's 
educational philosophy. 

4. Compare Wiley's theory of education with the theory of 
education held by Braxton Craven. 

5. What contribution did Braxton Craven make to public 
education in North Carolina? 

6. What were Wiley's most permanent contributions to 
public education in North Carolina? 

7. What influence did his work in North Carolina have on 
public education in other Southern States? 

8. Why were so few women engaged in teaching in North 
Carolina before the war? 

9. What were the defects of the school system between 
1853 and 1860? 

10. What percentage of the school population was enrolled 
in the public schools just before the war? What percent- 
age of the school population is in school to-day? 

11. What progress was made in educational journalism in 
North Carolina before the war? 

12. What other auxiliary educational agencies were at work 
in the State during the ante-bellum period? -' 

13. What attempts were made to establish public high 
schools in North Carolina before 1860? 

14. What were the facilities for training teachers in the State 
before the war? 



CHAPTER X 

ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 

The actual practice of any educational system is 
always more difficult to describe than the theory and 
laws on which the system is built, and the more remote 
the period the more difficult is an adequate description 
of its practice. Scarcity of concrete illustrative materials 
of no more remote a time than the ante-bellum period 
makes a description of actual educational practice of the 
system discussed in the preceding chapter more of a 
task than would at first appear. The poor system of 
bookkeeping of the time, for example, renders an intel- 
ligible treatment of the fiscal features of the school sys- 
tem no easy matter. Moreover, officials, either igno- 
rantly or through negligence, often failed to record in 
permanent form minor but historically important de- 
tails of the operation of the system. However, by a 
study of the few illustrative materials accessible, a 
fairly adequate conception may be formed of educa- 
tional practice in North Carolina before the war. In 
the practical operation of the school system at that time, 
the curriculum, schoolbooks, material equipment, and 
methods of teaching are among the more interesting 
features. The principle of school support, by local taxa- 
tion and the income from the literary fund, has already 
been pointed out. 

The curriculum of the ante-bellum system was very 
narrow, generally including little more than reading, 
writing, arithmetic, and spelling, with now and then a 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 193 

little geography, grammar, and history. The subjects 
on which teachers were usually examined were reading, 
writing, arithmetic, and spelling. Wiley urged that the 
female teachers be examined on these and that the male 
teachers be required in addition to show ability to teach 
the subjects of grammar and geography. But this re- 
quirement was not generally made, though these "ad- 
vanced" subjects were sometimes taught in some of the 
schools, as was also the subject of history. Texts in 
this subject served rather as reading-books, however, 
than as guides for historical study. 

Uniformity of textbooks during the ante-bellum period 
was unknown in North Carolina. One of the evils of 
the system was the "multiplicity and frequent change 
of textbooks, by which expenses were accumulated on 
parents and guardians, the progress of the school re- 
tarded, and teachers greatly embarrassed by having 
large schools with nearly every child in a class by itself." 
Wiley urged improvement of this condition and worked 
to drive out poor books, to prevent frequent and unwise 
changes, and to secure the use of a uniform series. Uni- 
formity, the superintendent believed, would decrease 
expense and enable a form of student classification 
which would not otherwise be possible, especially when 
a great variety of books were in use. To secure this im- 
provement he early recommended uniform books. He 
was unable to secure the adoption of uniform books, 
however, and a great variety of texts in the subjects 
taught continued to be used throughout the period. 
This great variety of texts and of authors reflects some- 
thing of the actual educational conditions of the time. 

Wiley urged uniformity of books as a means of improv- 
ing school conditions in the State, and recommended 



194 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

those which in his opinion were suited to the schools. The 
list consisted of : Webster's Speller; Wiley's North Caro- 
lina Reader; Parker's First and Second Readers; Davies's 
Arithmetics; Emerson's Arithmetic; Mitchell's Inter- 
mediate Geography (North Carolina Edition); Bullion's 
Grammar; Worcester's Comprehensive Dictionary; and 
Wiley's Common School Catechism.^ In spite of their 
oflScial recommendation these books were by no means 
all of those actually used in the public schools of the 
State before the war. In addition to Webster's famous 
book, which occupied first place in North Carolina as 
in other States, the following were among other spell- 
ers extensively used in the State during the period: 
— Barry's Speller, Burton's Speller, Cobb's Spellery 
Comly's Speller, Dilworth's Speller, Emerson's Speller, 
The Eclectic Speller, Ely's Speller, Fenning's Speller^ 
Hazen's Speller and Definer, Kirby's Speller, Marshall's 
Speller, Mayo's Speller, Murray's Speller, The National 
Spelling Book, The United States Speller, The Universal 
Speller, The Union Spelling Book, Town's Spelling Book, 
The Western Speller, and Wood's Speller. 

Spelling-books during the ante-bellum period were not 
intended primarily for the purpose of teaching spelling, 
but served the threefold purpose of spellers, readers, and 
moral instructors. The most famous of all the texts on 
the subject was Webster's, popularly known as the " Old 
Blue Back," which was universally used in the schools 

^ It is interesting to note that in the same year that Wiley recom- 
mended these books for use in North Carolina (1853), the following 
books were recommended, by a convention of school officials and 
teachers in Augusta County, Virginia, for use in the schools of that 
State: Webster's Speller; McGuffy's or Mandeville's Readers; Brown's 
or Bailey's English Grammar; Mitchell's or Smith's Geography: Col- 
burn's or Davies's Arithmetics. 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 195 

of this country until comparatively recent years. Even 
young people of to-day are familiar with or have heard 
of this celebrated book. It had a wide circulation from 
the first, and at the time of Webster's death in 1842 
a million copies were being distributed annually. The 
: influence of the book can hardly be estimated. Spelling 
became a fad almost simultaneously with its appearance 
in 1783, and "spelling-bees" soon came to be a popular 
school exercise. In North Carolina, as in other sections 
of the South where schoolbooks were scarce, it was often 
one of the first books put into the hands of the child 
when he entered school, and served as a good com- 
bination of primer, speller, reader, and moral guide. 

Among the primers in use in the State during the 
ante-bellum period were The American Primer, The 
Baltimore Primer, Cobb's Primer, Hanson's Symbolical 
Primer, The Juvenile Primer, The New York Primer, The 
New England Primer, The Philadelphia Primer, The 
Union Primer, The United States Primer, The Washing- 
ton Primer, Webster's Primer, and Worcester's Primer. 
Of these The New England Primer was for a long time 
one of the most popular and was in use in North Caro- 
lina and other Southern States for a long time after it 
had fallen into neglect in other sections. Scarcity of 
textbooks here probably helped to maintain a place for 
it. The book was "almost entirely a religious and moral 
miscellany of verse and prose gathered from all sorts 
of sources. Prominent in the miscellany is a picture 
alphabet — a series of twenty-four tiny pictures, each 
accompanied by a two or three line jingle," which was 
a very old method of teaching the alphabet. The jingles 
were doubtless thought to lend themselves to teaching 
certain religious beliefs. 



196 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

The list of reading-books was even larger than the 
number of primers in use in North Carolina before the 
war. Reading, together with ciphering and writing, 
occupied the major portion of the curriculum, and dur- 
ing the ante-bellum period almost any printed matter 
which could be furnished the children served as a text- 
book in the subject. The following are some of the ma- 
terial reported as "readers": Bingham's American Pre- 
ceptor, Blair's Reading Exercises, Baxter's Call, Bible 
and Sabbath School Books, Class Readers, Child's Library, 
Child's Book, Cobb's Reading Books, Columbian Orator, 
Come and Welcome to Christ, Eclectic Reader, Emerson's 
Readers, Evening Entertainment, Fascinating Companion, 
Family Story Book, Hall's Western Reader, Hervey's 
Meditations, Juvenile Readers, Kay's Reader, Murray's 
Introduction, Reader and Sequel, Moral Instructor, Na- 
tional Reader, New England Reader, The New York Read- 
ers, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, New York Expositor, New Testament, 
Orator's Assistant, Panorama of Arts, Panorama of Trades, 
Parley's Tales, Parley's Reader, Popular Lessons, Pleas- 
ing Companion, Pilgrim's Progress, Scott's Lessons, 
Southern Reader, The [Spectator, Town's Little Thinker, 
United States Readers, United States Constitution, The 
Virginian Orator, Miss Edgeworth's Early Lessons, 
Mother at Home, Child at Home, Parents' Cabinet, Cabinet 
Library, Robinson Crusoe, and others. Of these Murray's 
Reader, published in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 
1825, and The New York Reader, No. 3, published in 
New York in 1828, were the most extensively used. 
All readers of the period were intended to assist young 
people to read "with propriety and effect, to improve 
their language and sentiments, and to inculcate some of 
the most important principles of piety and virtue." 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 197 

Because of the high esteem in which mathematics was 
held as a practical science, arithmetic held perhaps the 
most important place in the curriculum, and, as in other 
subjects, a great variety of texts were in use. Among 
those most frequently reported in use, texts by the fol- 
lowing authors may be mentioned: Adams, Beattie, Col- 
burn, Daboll, Dilworth, Emerson, Fenn, Fenning, 
Fisher, Fowler, Gough, Jess, Jones, Niles, Park, Pike, 
Ray, Root, Slocomb, Smiley, Smith, Stockton, Walking- 
ham, Walsh, Webster, Willard. Of these Colburn's First 
Lessons in Intellectual Arithmetic, which appeared in 
1821, Thomas Dilworth's The School-Master' s Assistant, 
which appeared earlier, and the works of Jess and of 
Pike, earlier still, were among those most extensively 
used in North Carolina during the ante-bellum regime. 

On account of the monopoly of the curriculum by the 
minimum essentials of an English education — reading, 
writing, and arithmetic — geography found rather 
tardily the position which it now occupies in the curricu- 
lum of the elementary school. Even the higher schools 
neglected it as a separate study until far into the nine- 
teenth century. TVTien it first appeared in the lower 
schools it was not treated as a subject distinct in itself; 
neither was it intended, as it is to-day, to impart a 
knowledge of world movements, of current events, or of 
the economic and commercial relations of man. Like 
the earlier histories, books on geography served as read- 
ers rather than as texts on the subject of the earth as the 
home of man. Frequently, however, geographies must 
have been used in the capacities of readers and histories 
also. Not a few of the texts in use in the early nineteenth 
century could have served one purpose quite as well as 
another. 



198 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

In these capacities, as readers and as histories, a great 
variety of texts were in use. Among them books by the 
following authors seem to have been most widely known 
and used: Adams, Carey, Cummings, Frazer, Guthrie, 
Huntingdon, Moss, Morse, Olney, "Peter Parley," 
Smiley, Willett, Willard, and Woodbridge. Of these the 
work of Morse, the pioneer American geographer, and 
the work of Olney were apparently the most popular. 
Morse's book. The American Universal Geography, was 
a sketchy, fragmentary combination history-geography 
of the whole world, treated historically, geographically, 
economically, educationally, religiously, politically, 
morally, and socially. Olney's Geography and Atlas was 
accepted as a standard text on the subject immediately 
after its appearance in 1828, and for forty years or longer 
it found a place in North Carolina. Moreover, the book 
almost immediately had the effect of changing the cur- 
rent method of teaching the subject. Olney, who was 
a practical teacher, emphasized the tendency toward 
"home geography." —^ 

Textbooks on grammar did not, as geographies and 
histories, serve well as readers, and that subject, as we 
know it to-day, also came slowly into the schools. The 
early texts were unduly intricate and difficult to explain 
or to understand, and the subject was regarded as more 
or less meaningless as well as dreary. Children were 
therefore little interested in it. The prefaces of many of 
the earlier works were often apologetic, deploring the 
lack of interest in such an important subject. The pri- 
mary purpose of grammar was to teach the correct use 
of spoken and written language, but, like geography, it 
was also meant to serve a moral and religious purpose. 
Grammar was not a required subject in the public 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 199 

schools in North Carohna during the ante-bellum period, 
teachers were not examined on it, and the subject was 
therefore not widely taught. Occasionally, however, 
county officials reported a few "grammar and geogra- 
phy" pupils.^ in some of their schools. With the few 
who were studying the subject a great variety of texts 
were used. Among them the following authors may be 
mentioned: Ash, Bingham, Boardman, Brown, Bulhon, 
Comly, Greenleaf, Harrison, Ingersol, Jandon, Johnston, 
Kirkman, Lowth, Murray, Merton, Olney, Sanford, 
Scott, Smith, and Webster. The work of Murray and 
that of Kirkman were the most generally used. 

History likewise found a place tardily in the curricu- 
lum of the public schools of the State, and when it j&rst 
appeared as a school subject it was largely used as ma- 
terial for teaching reading. The value of the subject as 
a means of furnishing a broad interpretation of the 
world was not recognized, neither was it believed that 
the subject was capable of making direct appeals to 
human interests, to curiosity, to the imagination, or of 
developing enlightened patriotism or strengthening in- 
tellectual habits. Many of the early texts contained 
neither maps nor illustrations. The function of early 
history teaching was often believed to be ethical and 
religious, though the methods used were often unsafe 
even for these purposes. 

Few books on historical subjects appeared in the 
schools of North Carolina until the late thirties, and then 
they were used largely as readers. Among those most 
generally in use were works of Adams, Frost, Goldsmith, 
Goodrich, Grimshaw, Hale, Jesse, Millot, "Peter Par- 
ley," Pitkin, Pinnock, Webster and Worcester. Ancient, 
1 See pp. 200-203. 



200 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

mediaeval, European, universal, general, and ecclesias- 
tical, were words which often described the texts in use. 
Most of these works were often the merest outlines, a 
characteristic often observable in histories until near the 
close of the nineteenth century. Moreover, teachers 
were poorly prepared to teach history, and there was but 
little to recommend a place for the subject in the schools. 
Poor books, poorly prepared teachers, and classrooms so 
inadequately equipped that they never suggested the 
subject, were not conducive to lead pupils to study 
history or to acquire the wholesome habit of reading 
historical material. 

Of the material equipment of the schools, qualifica- 
tions of the teachers, and interest in public education in 
the State before the war, the following pages contain 
fairly representative descriptions which are taken from 
the reports of the chairmen of the school officials of 
Burke, Alamance, Union, and Wilkes Counties to the 
state superintendent for the year 1857. These reports 
are representative of educational conditions in the 
State during the closing years of the ante-bellum period. 
The last selection is from one of Wiley's early reports 
and contains his own criticism of schoolroom practices 
of the time. 

(Burke County, 1857) 

I visited the following schools, and have the honor to report 
as follows, to wit: 

No. 1. There is no district schoolhouse in this district, and 
no school going on, but they have used the money heretofore 
by teaching in a rented house. 

No. 2. Has a good house, rock chimney and glass windows. 

Taught by Mr. , an excellent teacher of the lower 

branches of English education. He knows nothing of grammar 
and geography. 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 201 

No. 3. An excellent house with rock chimney and glass 
windows. Taught by Miss , five grammar and geog- 
raphy scholars. She governs well, because she governs by 
affection. 

No. 4. Has a neat schoolhouse (new). Taught 'by Miss 

; governs well; a good rock chimney, and well lighted; 

all right. 

No. 5. Is a pretty good house, wants some repairs. Taught 
by Mr. , and does very well. 

No. 6. A very good house, rock chimney; six grammar and 

geography scholars. Mr. , a pretty good teacher, has 

the school. 

No. 7. Has no district schoolhouse, having recently lost a 
very good house by fire, accidentally. A school has been lately 
taught in a storehouse, which is on the school lot. It was well 
taught. Seven grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 8. An excellent house, with two rock chimneys. The 

school is well taught by Miss , daughter of our sheriff. 

Eight grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 9. Taught by Mr. , an excellent young man. 

Good house, rock chimney. Has six grammar and geography 
scholars. All is right here, and school well governed. 

No. 10. Is a pretty good house, but wants some repairs, 

taught by Mrs. . This lady is an excellent tutoress, and 

lives near the schoolhouse — devotes great attention to her 
school, and governs well. I think her No. 1 as a teacher. She 
has eight grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 11. Is a small district, without a teacher or house. 

No. 12. Taught by Mr. , an excellent teacher; good 

house, with rock chimney and glass windows. Nine grammar 
and geography scholars. 

No. 13. A good house, rock chimney and glass windows. 

School to commence soon under the tuition of Mr. , 

who is now teaching in No. 12. 

No. 14. An excellent house, rock chimney, well lighted 

with glass windows, taught by the Rev. Mr. , one of 

our best teachers. Thirty grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 15. A new, good schoolhouse. An excellent teacher 
has been teaching; not now teaching, but will soon re-com- 
mence his school. All right here. 



202 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

No. 16. A good house; teacher absent a while; rock chimney, 
well lighted. No difficulties here. 

No. 17. An excellent house, good rock chimney and glass 
windows. School well taught. Ten grammar and geography 
scholars. 

No. 18. The district had a house nine years after the school 
law went into operation, near the center. It was conducted 
in peace and harmony until the house was burnt down; since 
then there has been a school taught in a house given for the 
purpose. Some dissatisfaction still exists about the location of 
a house by the committee, but I think these differences can be 
settled and the school will go on. 

No. 19. A good teacher and good house. Things all right. 

No. 20. Good house, an excellent rock chimney, well lighted, 
good teacher, school well taught. 

No. 21. Good house and pretty good teacher. All right. 

No. 22. Rich Mountain district. Tolerable good house. All 
right. Teacher has been teaching, but stopped his school for a 
while. 

No. 23. Stacey district has a very good house, with rock 

chimney, good glass windows, and taught by a Mr. ; 

all in good order. 

No. 24. A very good house with rock chimney and glass 
windows, taught by Mr. , a good teacher. 

No. 25. Taught by Mr. ; a neat good house, with 

rock chimney and glass windows. Six grammar and geography 
scholars. School well conducted. 

No. 26. Mr. , teacher; an excellent new house with 

rock chimney and glass windows; school well conducted. Four 
grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 27. An excellent house, rock chimney and windows of 
glass. Five grammar and geography scholars. All right. 

No. 28. No district school at present, but expect one will 
be erected soon. A lot of land is given, and will be conveyed 

to the committee soon. Mr. is now teaching in a house 

which has been procured for the purpose. Five grammar and 
geography scholars. No difficulties. 

No. 29. Brindleton is an excellent house, with rock chim- 
ney and glass windows. Taught by Mr. , an ordinary 

teacher. 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 203 

No. 30. Rain Hill is an excellent house, taught by INIr. , 

a very good teacher, and all right. 

No. 31. Is an excellent house, well lighted and school now 
being taught. No troubles or difficulties. 

No. 32. Is a pretty good house, school being now taught by 
an excellent teacher. 

No. 33. School taught by Mr. , an able man; pretty 

well taught. An excellent house, with rock chimney and good 
light. All right. 

No. 34. In this district they have had a school every year, 
except the present year, in a house procured for the purpose, 
but not a good one. The committee will probably cause a good 
house to be built pretty soon. 

No. 35. This is a very good house, and has a school now 
taught by Mr. . Nothing wrong in this district. 

No. 36. School taught by Mrs. , a most excellent 

tutoress. A very good house, everything neat about it; rock 
chimney, etc. Nine grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 37. School taught by a young man, Mr. . An 

excellent house, new, and good rock chimney and glass win- 
dows. Seven grammar and geography scholars. 

No. 38. This is the district in which the difficulty arose 
and in which I recommend a division, as stated in No. 22. A 
school has been taught by Mr. . 

No. 39. School taught by Mr. ; a very good teacher; 

a good house. All right. 

In submitting this report to the board of superintendents 
and to the state superintendent, it gives me great pleasure to 
state that I found the houses much better than I expected, 
and the manner in which the schools are conducted far better 
than I ever expected to find them in my lifetime. There ap- 
peared everywhere throughout the county a good spirit among 
all classes. Every assistance was rendered to get me on from 
one district to another, and not one dime was charged by any 
person for expenses, and every necessary comfort rendered me; 
which was extremely grateful to the feelings of an aged man. 

In conclusion, I will respectfully remark that I had but one 
thing to regret in this visit, to wit: that so few of the districts 
taught a silent school. I told the teachers that I had no power 
to reform; this belonged to the district committees. But I used 



204 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

every effort which reason and fair argument suggested, to re- 
move the prejudice which exists on that subject. Some two 
thirds of the districts teach a noisy school. 



{Alamance County, 1857) 

I came home last night from a tour visiting our school dis- 
tricts and houses, and am glad to find your favor of the 24th 
inst. at the post-office. We had a very cold, windy day yester- 
day, and this morning is quite cold, the thermometer standing 
at 20 degrees, and so I concluded I would give you some ac- 
count of my progress in visiting, and ask your counsel on sev- 
eral matters relative thereto. I have visited about one half 
the schoolhouses, and find them in better condition than I ex- 
pected, and have been treated with courteous attention by all. 
I purchased a set of the schoolbooks and paid for them, one set 
for each district, and left them with each committee, with a 
catalogue, in order that the parents of the children might know 
the prices, and where they might be had. 

I have taken much care to select one of the most public- 
spirited of each committee to act as foreman ; those having the 
largest family of children to attend the schools, and enjoin it 
on them each to see that the schoolhouses are kept in good 
comfortable repair, and also to keep the sample books and 
catalogues. I have found, where all three of the committee 
have to attend to the requirements, they will all neglect to 
do their duty; and hence the necessity of giving it to one, under 
the instruction of the joint committee. They all appear to be 
well pleased with the plan of procuring books and the mode 
proposed to procure them. 

I have measured the dimensions of the houses and the land 
attached and taken deeds, and classed the houses in five grades, 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; as yet I have had but one of No. 1, worth 
$175; No. 2, from $100 to $140; No. 3, from $75 to $100; 
No. 4, from $50 to $75; and one No. 5, worth only $25. So far 
the school houses and land average about $100 each; the num- 
ber in the county 48. The houses are generally suflSciently large 
in extent or size. I have a small book in which I record the 
quality of each, with a view to bring about some district 
pride. 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 205 

I am requiring of the teachers to furnish, in addition to the 
printed forms, the number and names of the scholars taught 
and the length of time each was taught, and to designate the 
five most attentive and obedient and apt to learn, by attaching 
Nos. 1, 2, and so on to their respective names. 

I have been trying to take the number of black and white 
polls, and the quantity of land in acres embraced in each dis- 
trict, and also the value of it, so as to ascertain the amount 
of tax collected from each for school purposes. 



{Union County, 1857) 

Your circular for the present year came to hand a few days 
ago. With its contents I am much pleased, and hasten to 
comply with your request; and I herewith send you a rough and 
hastily made map of our County of Union, and its common- 
school districts. I do not wish to consume time making apolo- 
gies because my map is such a commonplace excuse, but I must 
make some explanation. 

Our county was formed in 1842, but continued with the 
counties of Anson and Mecklenburg as to common-school 
matters until 1850; we then set up for ourselves. In 1851 we 
laid off the county into school districts, four miles by four miles 
square (by survey) ; your humble servant was made chairman, 
and has so continued. We now consider our school districts 
as being too large and inconvenient as well as too popu- 
lous (many of the districts numbering from 100 to 140 chil- 
dren) ; and we have it in contemplation to re-district our county 
in the course of this summer and fall, and we are intending to 
bring the matter to the notice of our county court for their 
approval — not that we, the county superintendents, doubt 
of having a right to do so, but for courtesy only. For when 
the county was first districted the court generously made an 
order to pay the expenses of the laying off, amounting to some- 
thing over $200 ; and at that time there was no school tax laid 
in this county, but as there is now, we do not expect the county 
to pay, and shall take the expenses from the school funds 
raised in the county. (Will this be right.'*) As to the form and 
size of the districts — on this subject I would be very glad of 
the opportunity to consult with you ; but I will try to give you 



206 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

my views and plan as well as I can, which are to lay oflF the dis- 
tricts in regular hexagon form, or six equal angles containing 
twelve square miles, so that the center of each district will only 
be two miles from each corner. Our present number of dis- 
tricts is forty-one; by this plan, it would be fifty -six. Our 
county contains six hundred and sixty-seven square miles, and 
has within its limits a number of large creeks, which will neces- 
sarily cause derangement of the regular plan, and also add to 
the number of districts. This, sir, is the outline of the plan I 
had expected to district by; and if you can help me to an idea, 
I will be thankful to you for it. 

You make some allusion to chairmen visiting schools, etc. 
I will take the liberty here to give you some account of the 
way and manner that I have proceeded. In the fall of 1854 I 
visited seventeen of the districts, when the schools were going 
on, gave such advice as I thought necessary, and settled a 
number of difficulties that had arisen in the schools; took ac- 
count of the number of children in attendance, scolded about 
the bad seats, open houses, smoky chimneys, etc., called on 
committeemen and extorted promises to have repairs attended 
to, most of which I believe was done. The summer and fall of 
1855, from family affliction, I attended only two or three — 
nothing worth naming; in 1856 I visited twenty-two schools, 
and 1 should have been glad, had it been called for, to have 
made a report to you of the improvement which appears to be 
going forward in our schools. When you make the allowance 
that our county is a good way behind in education it is grati- 
fying to know that in every district I was at, where the teacher 
was competent to teach grammar and geography, there were 
students pursuing them, and I do not now recollect that a 
solitary complaint was made in the county the past year. I 
know I have run on with a great deal of egotism, but I am writ- 
ing for the eye of none but my much respected superintend- 
ent, and that is my apology. One who I know takes so deep 
an interest in education generally is entitled to the highest 
commendation. 

Should we succeed and our county be re-districted by a 
competent surveyor (my age forbids me), I will endeavor, as 
soon as possible, to comply with your request more fully. 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 207 

(Wilkes County, 1857) 

Your esteemed favor of the was duly received, and, 

according to your request, I should have written you long be- 
fore this; but my professional engagements have been so 
pressing that I have found it impossible to write sooner, and 
now write away from my office . . . while waiting upon the 
sick. 

According to appointment, our "Educational Meeting" 
came off and, as the first effort of the kind in this county, 
may well be called a great "success." I had visited as many 
as ten of our voting precincts, involving a ride of over two 
hundred miles — had extended a very earnest and special 
invitation to our magistrates, ministers of the gospel, school 
teachers, committeemen, and all friends of education in our 
county, to come out and let us form a society of such numerical 
strength, character, and influence, as would at the very out- 
set place us on a firm and successful career. I am proud to 
say that I realized a more hearty response than I at first an- 
ticipated — a large and imposing delegation of the magistracy 
of our county, and a representative from almost every dis- 
trict either of the committeemen or some friend of common- 
schools being present. 

Although it was court day, and there was political speak- 
ing, yet we so arranged it that our meeting was organized 
immediately at the close of the discussion. I had made an 
effort to have a speaker provided, but did not succeed — had 
therefore to officiate myself; and after calling a temporary 
president, I proceeded to explain more fully the object of our 
meeting, to point out some of the advantages likely to result 
from this movement, and then I read your letter, as you re- 
quested. I then called over the names of all our committeemen, 
invited the ministers of the Gospel and the teachers and mag- 
istrates to come forward and take seats (as by an article of 
our constitution they were already members by virtue of 
their office). 

After consulting with some of the friends of our cause, we 
concluded to draw up and adopt a constitution for the present, 
according to my promise, and hereafter alter or substitute, as 
occasion may require. I accordingly drew up the accompany- 



208 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

ing preamble and constitution, copying the state form as far as 
I could. This I submitted, article after article, accompanied 
with suitable explanations, and it was adopted. I then pro- 
ceeded to nominate and elect individually our board of officers. 

After the president took the chair, and our association was 
fully organized, I submitted a few suggestions concerning the 
introduction of the Bible in our schools — having ascertained 
that this matter had been so neglected that it amounted al- 
most to a prohibition — premising that I had obtained, partly 
by donation and partly by purchase, a sufficiency of books to 
give one copy of the Bible and ten copies of the Testament to 
every school district in the county. I urged with earnestness and 
zeal the great importance of this movement — enjoined it 
upon the teachers to attend to this matter — and called upon 
the committees to help us carry forward the plan. My remarks 
were listened to with profound attention on this point; and 
I have reason to believe will not only command the appro- 
bation of our school officers, but will contribute sometliing 
toward the accomplishment of this much needed measure. 

I then detailed a plan we were trying to introduce to pre- 
pare and encourage our teachers, i.e., of raising a "Public 
Circulating Library," a scheme the teachers were gladly avail- 
ing themselves of, but which was much desired and much 
needed by many others — as placing the means of information 
and preparation in the hands of the teachers, introducing 
standard books, etc., into our community. I was anxious to 
obtain subscribers, as many as possible, outside the corps of 
teachers. As this was the last business we did, and as the 
county candidates were urging us through, I did not get as 
many subscribers as I think, under other circumstances, might 
have been obtained. I have, however, from all sources, about 
$70 subscribed. I hope to be able to raise $100 — if so, it is 
the intention of the board to subscribe another $100 — this 
will give us a pretty fair start. If I succeed in this matter, I 
will trouble you again in making out a catalogue of books, etc. 

Previous to adjournment it was agreed to set apart the 
4th of July in every year to hold our annual meetings, and that 
called meetings will be held as often as required by the presi- 
dent. This, with a few other desultory proceedings, closed our 
meeting. 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE 209 

I have thus, my dear sir, in my intervals while in attendance 
upon the sick, endeavored to give you a sketch of our "First 
Educational Meeting" in Wilkes County — a sketch imperfect 
in all its details, and in which I regret that my own name and 
efforts should occupy so conspicuous a place; but am assured 
that you will not refer it to any egotism on my part, but to the 
deep and abiding interest that I hope I, in common with your- 
self, feel in this matter. 

I think I may safely assert that our corps of teachers, though 
not prepared as well as even the law requires, and not making 
the advancement it is desirable they should do, go out to their 
fields of labor impressed more deeply and thoroughly than 
perhaps ever heretofore, with the importance and immense 
responsibility of their calling. 

The imperfect manner in which our school districts were 
originally run off, their irregularity both in numbering and 
size, renders it necessary to re-arrange and re-district our 
county ; and we expect to have this done the present fall — 
having the districts made uniform in size, the number in regu- 
lar order, and the lines and corners marked. When this work 
is done, I shall be glad to supply you with a map of our county, 
and I have no doubt but what it will greatly facilitate our 
school operations. 

The following, taken from one of Wiley's earlier re- 
ports, will throw a little light on his own idea of defects 
in the schoolroom : — 

I have met with persons who thought my course of instruc- 
tion — that is, the series of books recommended — too simple; 
and I found that these persons could not answer one fourth of 
the important questions which could be asked and answered 
out of Webster's Spelling Book. All pupils, when reading, 
ought to have by them, for constant reference, a dictionary; 
and when teachers exercise the students in spelling, from mem- 
ory (and they ought to do it often), they should give out the 
words from a work of this sort, and give also the definition. 
Arithmetical recitations on the slate should be universally 
abolished ; and there is no one thing so important in a school- 
room, and few things cheaper than a blackboard. In the hands 
of a good teacher it is absolutely indispensable: it serves for 



210 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

arithmetical recitations, for practice in shaping figures and 
letters to those beginning to write, and is useful in lectures, 
as affording a place to make illustrations in the view of the 
whole school. 

Blackboards were doubtless very scarce in the public 
schools of the State before the war and they continued 
scarce until many years afterwards. Throughout the 
period Wiley urged improvement in material equipment 
and in methods of teaching, and in these things he 
brought about considerable progress. In the late fifties 
there was a rapidly growing tendency to improve school- 
houses, and throughout the period there was a notice- 
able improvement in the teachers. 

REFERENCES 

Legislative Documents of North Carolina; Legislative 
Documents of Virginia; Annual Reports of the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, 1853-66; the North Carolina Journal of 
Education; Johnston, Old-Time Schools and School-books; 
Coon, North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-184^0, a 
Documentary History; numerous old textbooks. Most of the 
books referred to in this chapter are in the Library of Congress, 
and many of them have been examined by the author. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. How much more extensive is the public school curriculum 
to-day than it was before the war? How has it expanded 
during the past twenty years.'' How have school books 
improved during that time.'* 

2. What is the advantage of uniform school books.'' Com- 
pare the books recommended by Wiley in 1853 with those 
in use in the public schools of the State to-day. 

3. What are the characteristics of a good spelling-book.'' 
What was the method of teaching spelling before the 
war? What is the weakness of the methods in use to-day? 
What was the value of the old-time "spelling-bees" or 
" spelling-matches " ? 



ANTE-BELLUM EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE £11 

4. Compare the early readers with those in use in the State 
to-day. 

5. Why did arithmetic occupy such an important place 
in the ante-helluvi curriculum? What was the purpose 
of teaching the subject? How did the early method of 
teaching the subject differ from the present method or 
methods? What are the characteristics of a good textbook 
on arithmetic? 

6. Why did geography come slowly into the public schools? 
How did the purpose and use of early geography teach- 
ing differ from the purpose and use of the subject to-day? 
How has the method of teaching geography changed in 
recent years? Account for this change. In what respect 
is geography a "practical" subject? A "moral" subject? 
A "cultural" subject? 

7. How have textbooks on grammar changed in recent 
years? How have the methods of teaching the subject 
changed? What is your criticism of so-called "formal 
grammar"? 

8. Why was the value of history as a distinct school subject 
not early recognized? What was the purpose of the sub- 
ject when it first appeared? What is the purpose of the 
subject to-day? In what way does history serve as a 
subject for moral training? What are the characteristics 
of a good textbook on history? What are the qualifica- 
tions of a good teacher of the subject? 

9. Why were all textbooks of the early period arranged so as 
to furnish moral and religious training? 

10. How has the material equipment of the schools in your 
county increased in the past ten years? How have the 
qualifications of the teachers in your county improved 
in that time? 

11. What agencies are at work to improve the public school- 
houses and grounds of your county? Why should local 
school-houses be built in accordance with plans approved 
by the state department of education? 

12. How has county supervision improved in your county 
during the past ten years? 

13. How does local educational interest express itself in your 
county? 



CHAPTER XI 

THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 

One criticism which the student of American educa- 
tional history is forced to make of the average treat- 
ment of the origin and development of our public-school 
system is in the great variety of loose and inaccurate 
statements concerning ante-bellum educational effort 
in the Southern States. Another is in the more or less 
arbitrary geographic and chronologic divisions made in 
the story of public educational development in the 
United States at large. There may be a certain conven- 
ience in such divisions, but they are often made at the 
expense of justice and fairness to the principle on which 
educational interest expressed itself prior to 1860. For 
example, Massachusetts is often considered the proto- 
type of scholastic endeavor in all New England in colo- 
nial days and during the early years of the nineteenth 
century; the educational customs of Virginia are fre- 
quently considered representative of the educational 
theory and practice which prevailed in the entire South- 
ern States before the war; schools and education in 
Pennsylvania are usually taken as a type for the middle 
eastern section of the country; and New York is ordi- 
narily given an educational classification to itself. 

In such historical treatments, which are more or less 
arbitrary and often contrary to facts, numerous loose 
and general statements concerning education in the 
United States before 1860 have appeared. One of these 
statements has concerned educational sentiment and 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 213 

educational effort and practice in the southern part of 
the country prior to the Civil War. It has become popu- 
lar to assert that there was no system of public educa- 
tion in these States prior to the congressional plan of Re- 
construction; that little effort for education had been 
made in the South before that time; and that this lack 
of educational tradition for all the people was largely 
responsible for the war and its deplorable aftermath. 
Such education as was given in the South during ante- 
bellum days was believed by some to have been based on 
wrong principles which finally produced the secessionist 
and rebellious spirit. It was also believed that the poor 
whites of the South were in dense ignorance and that 
this ignorance had been exploited by unprincipled 
leaders and made the foundation for the Confederacy. 
It was further believed in some quarters that the white 
leaders in the South frequently opposed public educa- 
tion for the masses of the people, and that all classes 
opposed the education of the negroes after their emanci- 
pation.^ 

The evidence on this matter is abundant. The war 
had scarcely closed before this belief was finding ex- 
pression throughout the country. The speeches in the 
annual meeting of the National Teachers' Association, 
which was held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in August, 
1865, were burdened with the idea that the lately closed 
rebellion had been a "war of education and patriotism 
against ignorance and barbarism." In his opening 
speech, "The Educational Duties of the Hour," the 
president of that organization said : — 

AH through the loyal States our principal institutions have 
prospered to a most wonderful degree. How has it been with 

^ Fleming, Documentary History of Reconstruction, vol. ii, chap. ix. 



214 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the States in rebellion? Scarcely an institution of learning 
survived. ... In all the free States the public-school system 
prevailed, and in most was administered with great efficiency, 
giving a good education alike to the poor and the rich. . . . 
How was it in the States where the institution of slavery pre- 
vailed? There was no common-school system. Exceptions 
there were in some of the cities — but as a general fact, the 
statement is correct. The children of a large portion of the 
population were, by law, prohibited the advantages of an 
education, and a large portion of the free population were vir- 
tually shut out from the means of early culture. . . . Thus 
has our land been deluged in blood. Sagacious politicians of 
the South saw the tendencies, and attributed the evil to the 
quality of Northern education. Without stopping to defend 
the character of our educational processes at the North, let it 
be observed that the root of the diflSculty lay not in this direc- 
tion, but in the fact of a diflFused and universal education at 
the North and a very limited education at the South. No two 
sections of country, though under the same government, can 
dwell together in peace and harmony, where the advantages 
of education are widely dissimilar. . . . 

There is but one alternative — education must be diflPused 
throughout the masses of the South. Black and white — "poor 
white" and rich white — all must be educated. Not to edu- 
cate them is to prepare for another Civil War. , . . 

Before the war no Southern teacher dared to discuss the 
whole truth at the South. . . . Can we not as educators go 
boldly into the Southern States and teach the truth and the 
whole truth? If not, I pray God that martial law may prevail 
in every Southern State, till Northern men, or any other men, 
may discuss educational, social, political, and moral and re- 
ligious topics in any part of the South as freely as in Faneuil 
Hall. This right we must have. . . . 

vThe result of the war was also regarded by many as 
affording rare opportunities for extending "universal 
education" in the States lately in rebellion. The entire 
South was now viewed as a vast missionary field, and 
this view was one of the defenses of the policy adopted 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 215 

for "reconstructing" that region. In spite of the genu- 
ineness of much of this sentiment, the decade following 
the close of the war shows much misdirected missionary 
zeal and visionary effort. With the exception of the 
Peabody Board Trustees, whose work has had a lasting 
beneficial influence on education in the South, the most 
of these missionary activities were blindly made and 
with little or no understanding of local conditions and 
local needs. Enthusiasts on the subject failed to con- 
sider the temper of the popular mind ; in their opinion the 
chief difference between the white man and the negro 
was the enforced ignorance of the latter, a difference 
which could easily be removed. Note the following, 
taken from a pamphlet issued near the close of the war, 
by a Massachusetts minister: — 

We have four millions of liberated slaves who should be 
educated. They ask it at our hands, and the world expects 
us to do it; because in the very act of emancipation there is the 
sacred promise to educate. Slavery has kept the word educa- 
tion out of our national constitution. Now four millions of 
starved minds implore its introduction. . . . Their former 
masters will not take the trouble to educate them, and would 
generally refuse to pay a local tax for the purpose. Since the 
Christian era there has not been such an opportunity for such 
a country to do such work ; the noblest work man can do. . . . 
The old slave States are to be new missionary grounds for the 
national schoolmaster. . . . 

Others believed that 

when the combat was over and the "Yankee" schoolma'ams 
followed in the train of Northern armies, the business of edu- 
cating the negroes was a continuation of hostilities against the 
vanquished South and so regarded, to a considerable extent, 
on both sides. ^ 

^ Alice M. BacoD, in Occasional Papers of , the Slater Fund Trustees, 
no. 7. 



216 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

From such an early beginning, therefore, it is not as- 
tonishing that inaccurate notions concerning Southern 
educational conditions should have developed and per- 
sisted even until recent years. In his Autobiography, 
General Oliver O. Howard, of the Freedmen's Bureau, 
said of the State which had the most creditable school 
system to be found in the entire South before 1860 : — 

It is a wonderful thing to recall that North Carolina had 
never had before that time a free-school system even for white 
pupils, and there was then no publication in the State devoted 
to popular education. The death of slavery unfolded the wings 
of knowledge for both black and white to brighten all the future 
of the "Old North State." ^ 

The inaccuracy of such a statement is obvious. We 
have already traced the State's educational effort be- 
fore the war and noted that during the years from 1852 
to 1861, known as the period of "reorganization," a 
journal of education was begun and maintained and 
proved a valuable auxiliary agency in the promotion of 
popular education. Other statements equally inaccurate 
have also been developed and recorded by men who 
should, indeed, know better. One of these is found in 
The Southern South, where Professor Hart says — 

... as for free public schools, not a single Southern State 
had organized and set in operation a system before the Civil 
War.2 

From such inaccurate generalities there has grown 
up the constantly repeated statement that the schools 
which did exist in the South were altogether unlike 
those found elsewhere in the United States. A careful 
study of conditions in the other sections of the country 
shows a striking similarity to conditions in the Southern 
* Page 338. » Pages 289, 290. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 217 

States. The laws, reports of the administrative officers, 
school statistics, complaints against the inefficiency of 
teachers and other school officials, found in the legisla- 
tive documents and the messages of the governors of 
the various States, all bear testimony that in origin, or- 
ganization, and comparative results, there was a striking 
likeness between educational conditions in North Caro- 
Una, Virginia, or Alabama, and those of the more ad- 
vanced States of New York, Pennsylvania, or Connecti- 
cut. Indeed, one does not have to search far for evidence 
that conditions in one section of the country were more 
or less similar to those in another section, and that the 
history of public education is much the same in the 
United States, whether it be the history of one part of 
it or of another. This does not necessarily mean that 
educational conditions in any two sections, or in any two 
States of the same section, are at any one time the same. 
Sentiment in favor of public schools for all the people 
may be stronger in one State or section than in another; 
or opposition to progressive educational policies may 
weaken or grow strong as the economic, political, or 
social conditions vary. 

Most of the state school systems in this country have 
passed through what may be called the " storm and stress 
period" in their development. In most States there 
have been great educational landmarks, made, perhaps, 
by long periods of educational agitation and the result- 
ing growth of unusual sentiment for schools. The so- 
called early educational revival in North Carolina, 
from the establishment of the literary fund in 1825 to 
the passage of the first school law fourteen years later, 
is practically paralleled by the educational campaign in 
Pennsylvania, in defense of whose school system and 



218 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

school law Stevens made his famous speech in the Legis- 
lature of that State in 1835.^ The work of Horace Mann 
in Massachusetts and of Henry Barnard in Connecticut 
for public education, was not unlike that of Calvin H. 
Wiley in North Carolina at a somewhat later date. 
Early school legislation in Virginia and North Carolina 
was framed on a theory not unlike that on which similar 
legislation in New York was framed: that the income 
from the literary fund and a small tax were sufficient for 
educational purposes. The theory on which schools in 
Georgia were established and operated was more or less 
similar to the theory on which early schools in Pennsyl- 
vania rested; and the administrative machinery of the 
school system in Alabama and South Carolina and other 
Southern States was practically the same as that for 
other sections of the country. Except for details of ad- 
ministration, perhaps, educational custom in the United 
States before 1860 was very similar in every section of 
the country. 

The successful application of the democratic theory of 
government to public education is the essential ideal of 
the origin and growth of our state school systems. This is 
abundantly illustrated by a study of the growth of our 
public education immediately prior to and just following 
the Civil War. And it is none the less true of one section 
than of another. When the story of this educational de- 
velopment is properly told, without the usual rhetorical 
embellishments which characterize the telling of a popu- 
lar tale, this ideal will reveal itself as a characteristic of 
all earnest effort at sound educational progress. It is a 
long way from the payment by the State of tuition for 
the majority of its scholastic population for three or 
' Wickersham, History of Education in Pennsylvania, p. 369. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 219 

four months in the year to the theory that the State 
should not only do this, but should even provide medical 
and dental attention for its young citizens while they are 
in school. And some socialistic educational theorists go 
further and believe that the State should provide free 
meals, in some cases clothe the children, and in rarer 
cases, perhaps, pay the parents for the time their chil- 
dren are in school. The theory, however, is always the 
same. 

The theory that the school is for all the people, the 
well-to-do and the poor, has developed slowly. This 
slowness has been due to the varying social, political, 
and economic conditions, as well as to the fact that edu- 
cation is marked by a conservatism equaled only by 
that in religion. That this theory has developed more 
rapidly and thoroughly in some sections of the country 
than in others, no one now questions; that in most sec- 
tions its periods of growth have often been followed by 
corresponding periods of retardation is also generally 
accepted. It is also agreed that the Southern States 
passed tardily through the so-called experimental stage 
in their educational growth. Hurried comparisons have 
been made of conditions in the various sections prior to 
1860 in an effort to show a diversity of educational the- 
ory and practice and that out of the war and reconstruc- 
tion were born the free public-school systems of the 
South. That certain differences did exist, and that re- 
markable changes in constitutional and legislative pro- 
visions for education appeared after the war, no one 
will undertake to deny. But these changes were not 
confined to the Southern States; and a careful study of 
conditions before and after 18G0 shows that it is not the 
differences but rather the similarities in the essential 



220 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

features of public education in this country which are, 
after all, most pronounced. 

General opinions formed from such hurried compari- 
sons of conditions have led to the more definite question, 
"What influence did the Reconstruction or 'carpetbag' 
regime have on education in the South?" Obviously a 
satisfactory answer to the question can be found only by 
a detailed and careful comparison of ante-bellum with re- 
construction and post-bellum conditions. This compari- 
son requires a clear differentiation both of the periods 
between 1865 and 1876 and the plans proposed for re- 
storing the South, and of the classes of men who took 
part in the formal restoration of the seceding States and 
in the work which followed. 

Of the two plans proposed the presidential plan of 
Reconstruction, from 1865 to 1867, marks an attempt 
to enlist the cooperation of the native white citizens in 
restoring civil order in the South. Under the congres- 
sional plan, however, from 1867 to 1876, three classes 
instead of one, as in the presidential plan, participated 
in political affairs : the native whites, the negro freedmen, 
and men from the North. The native whites were sharply 
divided into two classes, the conservatives and the radi- 
cals or "scalawags." The negroes were the most homo- 
geneous, usually of the same mind and easily influenced; 
while the men from the North, commonly known as 
"carpetbaggers," were, from the point of view of the 
South, predominantly radical. The Reconstruction con- 
ventions and legislative bodies from 1867 to 1876 were 
composed largely of negroes, carpetbaggers, and scala- 
wags, the conservatives in most cases being in the 
minority. 

The presidential plan of Reconstruction began in 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 221 

North Carolina in May, 1865, when President Johnson 
appointed W. W. Holden provisional governor of the 
State. Holden was instructed to call a convention for 
the purpose of altering the state constitution in such a 
way that relations with the federal government could be 
reestablished. Only those who had been granted amnesty 
by taking the oath prescribed in the proclamation of the 
President, May 29, 1865, could qualify as electors or as 
members of the Constitutional Convention. Fourteen 
classes of people were exempted from the benefits of the 
amnesty proclamation, but hope of executive clemency 
was held out to those exempted, through application to 
the President for pardon. A large number of persons 
were pardoned through this means. The election of 
delegates to the Convention was held and the Conven- 
tion met October 2, 1865. The body was very largely 
composed of men who had not favored secession, " Most 
of them were old Whigs, who, while opposed to secession, 
had submitted to the will of the majority. With these 
were many members of the peace party during the war. 
The delegates were unanimous in their desire to restore 
the State to normal relations with the federal govern- 
ment, and this was constantly shown as the session 
progressed." ^ The convention abolished slavery, re- 
pudiated the war debt, and declared the ordinances of 
secession null and void. 

The election of state officers and of members of the 
General Assembly was held November 9, 1865, and that 
body met November 27. But little is known of the for- 
mer political affiliation of most of its members. The 
uncertainty of the legality of its actions prevented the 
Assembly from concerning itself with general legislation, 
^ Hamilton, Reconstruction in North Carolina, p. 121. 



222 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

and after a short session it adjourned until February. 
This session continued until the middle of March, giv- 
ing attention also primarily to private legislation. The 
only act of educational significance was one to abolish 
the office of superintendent of public instruction and the 
office of treasurer of the literary fund. 

This law, which was passed March 9, 1866, allowed 
the justices of the county courts to lay and collect taxes 
at their discretion for common-school support; and 
county school communities were given discretionary 
powers to grant aid, "to the extent they may be au- 
thorized by the court, to subscription schools, the 
teachers of which have qualifications prescribed for 
teachers of the common schools, and to allow such 
schools to be carried on in the schoolrooms of their dis- 
tricts." The arguments made in the discussions of the 
bill when it was proposed throw light on the actual con- 
dition of the time. The literary fund was indeed inade- 
quate to maintain a system of public schools, a large 
part of that previous source of support having been lost. 
Moreover, the people of the State were impoverished as 
a result of the war. To certain members of the Legisla- 
ture it appeared inexpedient and well-nigh impossible 
to support a system of schools; to others the great service 
rendered by the school system before the war now made 
the necessity for its revival and support appear the more 
imperative. Efforts were made by the friends of the 
schools to get appropriations from the state treasury, 
or by borrowing money, in order that they might con- 
tinue. Finally the House passed a bill, by a vote of 49 
to 40, authorizing an annual appropriation of $75,000 
to assist the schools, but it was killed in the Senate by a 
vote of 23 to 14. It does not appear that there was out- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 223 

right legislative hostility to the system, however. At the 
same session the Assembly appropriated $7000 to re- 
lieve the state university of temporary embarrassment. 
Many of those who voted for this resolution also voted 
for the bill to abolish the office of state superintendent of 
schools. They did so, however, because there was no 
well-defined and adequate plan by which the schools 
could be continued except by taxation, and this method 
could hardly have been afforded at a time when the 
people of the State were pathetically poverty-stricken. 
There did appear some objection to Mr. Wiley, the 
superintendent of schools, however; and in all the de- 
bates on the bill nothing was quite so strangely severe as 
certain remarks made against him. In one of his recent 
reports on certain swamp lands in the eastern part of the 
State, which were the property of the literary fund, that 
officer had urged that the lands be properly surveyed 
and drained so as to make them profitable for the school 
fund. There was a mild suggestion of gross negligence 
in the administration of this property. It appeared that 
members of the Legislature from that part of the State 
where the lands were situated were offended, and the 
remarks of one member were particularly bitter. In his 
opinion the office of superintendent was an unnecessary 
expense; a salary had been paid that officer for years 
and he had been of no use on "God Almighty's earth, 
and the State was unable to pay a salary to a man who 
merely wrote long essays and drew interminable bills." 
This objection to Wiley seems to have been interpreted 
by some of those who really favored the schools as 
objections to the schools themselves. It was suggested 
that this opposition originated with the Finance Com- 
mittee who wished to divert the literary fund to other 



224 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

purposes. There were those also who saw in the condi- 
tion of the state treasury a ready use for the remainder 
of the Uterary fund.^ And this bankrupt condition of 
the State may help to explain the strange conduct of the 
Legislature in abolishing the office of superintendent. 

Whatever the explanation, however, this legislative 
action was highly inconsistent with the former policies 
of the lawmaking bodies of the State. There was, to be 
sure, a feeUng of uncertainty, a lack of funds, and an 
absence of a plan which seemed to be feasible for main- 
taining a school system. The financial condition of the 
government was deplorable. But it was unexpected that 
the State which claimed ante-bellum educational lead- 
ership in the entire South should, in a time of uncer- 
tainty, deliberately abandon its schools, transferring all 
the assets of the school fund to the general treasury of 
the State, and leave all matters of educational concern 
in local hands, whose powers were permissive and dis- 
cretionary. 

At the meeting of the Legislature of 1866-67, how- 
ever, which was composed largely of Whigs, two acts of 
educational importance were passed which tended to 
make amends for the strange conduct of its predecessor. 
The first of these was an act authorizing towns and cities 
to establish public-school systems "to be supported by 
the taxes collected or authorized to be collected for cor- 
poration purposes." Provision was made for local 
trustees, for a local board of education, and for other 
features of a modern school system. All towns which 
established public schools under the provisions of this 
law were required to set apart for educational purposes 
all the funds which could be spared from other purposes; 
The State had borrowed $128,000 from this source in 1863. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 225 

"and in addition to the powers of taxation, with which 
they are already invested, they shall be authorized to 
levy and collect a poll-tax on every white male inhabi- 
tant of the corporation, over twenty-one years old, of 
not more than two dollars, to be wholly appropriated to 
the use of the public schools." Provision was to be 
made "first, for primary schools for all the children who 
need them, and if, after such provision, there be other 
funds, they may be used for schools of higher grade. ..." 

On the same day that the law described above was 
ratified, another act was passed "to protect certain in- 
terests of the common schools." By this law the county 
courts were required to appoint county superintend- 
ents, similar to those in service before the war, and to 
serve under the same rules and regulations. Local 
trustees were to be appointed as in ante-bellum times, 
whose duties were practically the same as those of the 
ante-bellum oflBcers. Now that there was no superin- 
tendent, all official returns from the counties were to be 
made to the literary board, however. The law was an 
attempt to revive the former system of schools. 

It should be remembered that these acts were passed 
by the native white citizenship of the State at a time of 
great confusion and uncertainty, and when it was known 
that Congress would replace with military governments 
the state governments as organized by the presidential 
plan. In view of these conditions the acts are of great 
importance. They are evidence of an interest in educa- 
tion which was rarely seen in other things, and of a de- 
termination to protect the schools at whatever cost. 
But for the plan of congressional Reconstruction, which 
set in immediately, the history of education in North 
Carolina would be a different story. 



226 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Jonathan Worth, who had defeated Holden in the 
fall election of 1865, was reelected governor by a large 
majority in 1866. The state government was not recog- 
nized by the federal government, however, and political, 
economic, and social conditions were constantly growing 
worse.^ The agitation of the "rebel question" in Con- 
gress, the congressional investigations which looked to a 
safe plan to pursue in dealing with the Southern States, 
and the passage of certain Reconstruction legislation, 
each had its peculiar influence. The presidential plan 
of restoring the States which had seceded had failed. 
Enough of the Southern States had rejected the Four- 
teenth Amendment when Congress met in December, 
1866, to indicate the prevailing opinion in that section; 
and when the Congressmen from the South presented 
themselves, a resolution was introduced by Thaddeus 
Stevens and passed by both houses of Congress, which 
forbade the admission of members from the eleven 
Southern States until Congress had decided on their 
eligibility to membership. Nothing could be done until 
the political and civil status of the various States had 
been formally determined upon. So confusing was the 
condition of the time that little thought or attention 
could be given to matters of local educational concern. 
In February, 1867, it became known that the state gov- 
ernments as organized by the presidential plan of Re- 
construction would be superseded by military govern- 
ments and that the suffrage would be extended to the 
negroes. For the purpose of administration North 
Carolina was put in the Second Military District with 
South Carolina, in command of General David E. Sickles, 
who was later succeeded by General E. R. S. Canby. 
^ See Hamilton, op. cit., chap. iv. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 227 

In November, 1867, a Convention was called for the 
purpose of revising the constitution of the State in ac- 
cordance with the congressional plan of Reconstruction. 
In spite of conservative opposition the Convention was 
voted and met January 14, 1868. The composition of 
this body, which was unlike anything ever before seen 
in North Carolina, consisted of one hundred and twenty 
radicals and only thirteen conservative members. 
Eighteen of the radicals were "carpetbaggers," or men 
from the North, and fifteen were negroes. Not a few of 
the former had been officers in the Union army and were 
more or less prominent. Among the more intelligent 
ones were Albion W. Tourgee, who was a native of Ohio 
and a graduate of Rochester University; General Byron 
Laflin, of Massachusetts; Major H. L. Grant, of Rhode 
Island; the Reverend S. S. Ashley, of Massachusetts, 
who became the first superintendent of public instruc- 
tion under the Reconstruction regime; and John R. 
French, of New Hampshire. Of the negroes, James H. 
Harris, J. W. Wood, and A. H. Galloway were men of 
some ability. The conservative minority contained no 
members of political importance, and only two of them, 
Plato Durham and John W. Graham, both of whom 
were "Confederate soldiers and men of education," took 
any prominent part in the work of the Convention. 

On the same day that the Convention met the 
Raleigh Sentinel said : — 

The pillars of the capitol should be hung in mourning to-day 
for the murdered sovereignty of North Carolina. In the hall 
where have been collected, in days gone by, the wisdom, the 
patriotism, the virtue of the State, there assembles this morn- 
ing a body convened by an order of Congress, in violation of 
the Constitution of the United States and in utter disregard 
of the Constitution of North Carolina, a body which, in no 



228 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

sense, as a whole, represents the true people of the State, which 
has not been elected according to our laws nor chosen by those 
to whom those laws have committed the right of suflFrage. 
In the seats which have been filled by some of the best and 
truest sons of North Carolina will be found a number of negroes, 
a still larger number of men who have no interests or senti- 
ments in common with our people, but who were left in our 
midst by the receding tide of war, and yet others who have 
proven false to their mother and leagued with her enemies.^ 

The Committee on Education, appointed soon after 
the Convention was organized, consisted of two con- 
servatives and eleven radicals. The radicals consisted 
of seven carpetbaggers, two of whom were negroes, and 
four scalawags. The chairman of the committee was the 
Reverend S. S. Ashley. From time to time resolutions 
in reference to the schools or school funds, introduced 
by various members, were referred to the Committee on 
Education, which made its first report on March 6. The 
report was signed by all the members of the committee 
except the two conservatives, and passed the first read- 
ing with but little discussion. But it contained no pro- 
vision for separate schools, and Plato Durham, conserva- 
tive, offered the following as an additional section : — ' 

The General Assembly shall provide separate and distinct 
schools, for the black children of the State, from those provided 
for white children. 

Ashley immediately offered the following as an amend- 
ment to Durham's proposed section : — 

It being understood that this section is not offered in sin- 
cerity, or because there is any necessity for it, and that it is 
proposed for the sole purpose of breeding prejudice and bring- 
ing about a political re-enslavement of the colored race. 

After some discussion the previous question was called 

* Hamilton, oj). cit., p. 256. 



THE BEGINNESrGS OP RECONSTRUCTION £29 

and sustained, Ashley's amendment was adopted, and 
Durham's proposed section as amended was rejected by 
a vote of 86 to 11. 

Later, when the Convention was considering section 
eighteen, J. W. Graham sought to secure provision for 
separate schools. The section read: — 

The General Assembly is hereby empowered to enact that 
every child of sufficient mental and physical ability shall at- 
tend the public schools during the period between the ages of 
six and eighteen years, for a term of not less than sixteen 
months, unless educated by other means. 

Graham's amendment to this section was : — 

Provided, That there shall be separate and distinct schools 
and colleges for the white and colored races. 

Tourgee, carpetbagger, immediately offered the fol- 
lowing as a substitute: — 

Provided, That in all cases where distinct schools shall be 
established, there shall be as ample, sufficient, and complete 
facilities afforded for the one class as for others, and entirely 
adequate for all, and in all districts where schools are divided, 
the apportionment to each shall be equal. 

Both the amendment and the substitute were re- 
jected and the section adopted. The entire report, with 
the few slight verbal changes which had been made, 
passed the Convention by a vote of 88 to 12, and became 
Article IX of the constitution. The constitution was 
finally adopted by the Convention, all the conservative 
members voting against it, however. The election on its 
ratification by the people of the State was held April 21, 
22, and 23, 1868. The number registering for the elec- 
tion was 117,428 whites and 79,444 negroes, and the 
vote was 93,084 for the constitution and 74,015 against 
it. More than 29,000 registered voters neglected to vote. 



230 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

At the same time W. W. Holden was elected governor of 
the State. 

The new constitution provided that the General 
Assembly, in its first session, should "provide by taxa- 
tion or otherwise for a general and uniform system of 
public schools, wherein tuition shall be free of charge to 
all the children of the State between the ages of six and 
twenty -one years." The counties were to be divided 
into convenient districts, "in which one or more public 
schools shall be maintained, at least four months in every 
year," and the county commissioners who failed to com- 
ply with this requirement were "liable to indictment." 
The governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, 
treasurer, auditor, superintendent of public works, 
superintendent of public instruction, and attorney- 
general constituted the state board of education to re- 
place the ante-bellum literary board. Section sixteen 
provided: — 

As soon as practicable after the adoption of this constitution, 
the General Assembly shall establish and maintain, in connec- 
tion with the university, a department of agriculture, of me- 
chanics, of mining, and of normal instruction. 

Practically no changes were made in the matter of the 
literary fund, the section dealing with that subject being 
a copy of the ante-bellum law on the same subject. The 
final section empowered the Legislature to enact 

that every child of sufficient mental and physical ability shall 
attend the pubUc schools during the period between the ages 
of six and eighteen years, for a term of not less than sixteen 
months, unless educated by other means. 

The State now had very ample constitutional provi- 
sion for schools, more mandatory and thorough than at 
any previous time. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 231 

The Legislature elected in 1868 contained thirty- 
eight radicals in the Senate and eighty in the House. 
The conservatives numbered twelve in the Senate and 
forty in the House. At the special session of the body in 
July but little work of an educational importance was 
undertaken except the introduction of a few resolu- 
tions which concerned the literary fund and certain 
other features of a school system. These were promptly 
referred to the Committees on Education which were 
appointed early in the session. The House Committee 
consisted of one conservative and ten radicals, one of 
whom was a negro, and the Senate Committee was 
composed of seven radicals, one of whom was a negro. 
Each committee contained members who had been in 
the Constitutional Convention. 

The committees did not become active until January 
of the regular session which met in November, 1868. 
The message of Governor Holden, which was read to the 
Assembly November 17, recommended the immediate 
establishment of a general and uniform system of public 
free schools. The executive also urged provision for 
separate schools for the two races, "but in other re- 
spects there should be no difference in the character of 
the schools, or in the provision made to support them." 
The constitution was silent on the subject of mixed 
schools, though the carpetbaggers seem to have planned 
such a system, and had given the matter some consid- 
eration in the Convention. The failure finally to incor- 
porate in the constitution a provision either for mixed 
schools or against them created such an imcertain con- 
dition as to bring about harmful results later, even 
though the first school law provided for separate schools 
for the children of the two races. As for school support 



232 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the constitution made provision for the expenditure of 
three fourths of the entire capitation tax for educa- 
tional purposes. 

On January 27, the chairman of the Senate Committee 
on Education, G. W. Welker, a minister from Pennsylva- 
nia, introduced a bill providing for a school system, which 
was read and referred to the committee. On February 
12, after having been reported favorably in the House, 
it was reported back with certain amendments. On Feb- 
ruary 23, after several sections of the bill had been 
adopted in the Senate with but little significant dis- 
cussion, J. W. Graham, conservative, who had been a 
member of the Committee on Education in the Con- 
stitutional Convention, sought to secure a provision in 
the bill for separate schools, and his amendment pre- 
vailed by a vote of 24 to 6. The six opposing votes were 
cast by radical members. Numerous attempts were 
made at this time to secure amendments dealing with 
the racial question. One member endeavored to have in- 
serted in the bill a provision to prevent the teaching of 
"the doctrine of secession and of the lost cause," but the 
amendment was rejected by a vote of 34 to 5. Other 
amendments suggested that "textbooks and all publica- 
tions prescribed and used in the public schools should be 
free from sectarian and denominational and partisan 
bias in religion and politics," and that instruction should 
be given with a view to creating that sentiment which 
would foster a love for the perpetual union of the States. 
One member sought to secure an amendment to prevent 
the teaching of "the sentiments embodied in that well- 
known song, 'John Brown's Soul is Marching Along.'" 
The president ruled this out of order, however, and when 
the member appealed from the chair the latter was sus- 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 233 

tained by a vote of 38 to 1. Later the same member. 
Love, of Jackson County, offered as an amendment that 
the school "committee shall never employ any colored 
teacher, male or female, to serve as such, in any school 
wherein white children are to be instructed." Another 
member immediately moved to amend this proposed 
amendment by adding, "or employ white teachers to 
serve in any school wherein colored children are to be 
instructed." The amendment to the amendment was 
adopted by a vote of 28 to 11. Thereupon still another 
member moved to amend by adding, "That no white 
Democrat should teach any colored girl," but this the 
chair ruled out of order. And then the original amend- 
ment as amended was rejected by a vote of 21 to 19. 

Later the senator from Jackson was before the body 
again and on the same subject. This time his suggested 
amendment was that "No colored tutor or tutoress shall 
ever be engaged in any school wherein white children are 
to be taught." Moore, senator from Carteret County, 
though not a native of the State, offered to amend 
Love's amendment by adding, "nor any white tutor or 
tutoress wherein colored children are to be taught." 
The amendment to the amendment was adopted by a 
vote of 19 to 15, after which the original amendment 
was rejected by the same vote. A few days later Welker, 
chairman of the committee, showed signs of displeasure 
and moved the indefinite postponement of the entire bill, 
but the motion was lost by a large majority. Finally the 
bill came to its third reading; but when the Senate came 
to vote on a substitute which Welker offered for a por- 
tion of the proposed legislation. Love and another con- 
servative refused to vote. Later, when they were al- 
lowed to explain their action, Moore, who had already 



234 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

opposed Love many times in discussions of the educa- 
tion bill, arose to a point of order and complained that 
Love was not confining his remarks to an explanation. 
Love remarked that the gentleman from Carteret 
(Moore) knew nothing of the affairs of North Carolini- 
ans, was not interested in them, and besides, he was a 
carpetbagger. Moore replied that the gentleman from 
Jackson was a liar. The gentleman from Jackson re- 
marked that the gentleman from Carteret was not an 
ordinary liar, but a damned liar, and a final epithet was 
even more unbecoming a gentleman of senatorial rank. 
The encounter grew so fierce that the chairman rebuked 
the senators and a committee was appointed to investi- 
gate the case. No report was made, however, and the 
records do not show which of the "gentlemen" was cor- 
rect in his contention.^ 

The bill finally passed the Senate by a vote of 30 to 10, 
March 17, 1869. Three days later it was received in the 
regular order of business in the House where some minor 
verbal changes were suggested, and was finally ratified, 
as amended, by joint conference April 12. The law was 
almost entirely the work of the Senate.^ 

North Carolina now had a thoroughgoing and definite 
school law, and, with reference to school support, more 
mandatory and less discretionary than previous acts on 
the subject. The law provided for a state board of edu- 
cation and prescribed its duties. The net annual income 
of the public-school fund (the remainder of the ante- 
helium literary fund) was to be distributed among the 
counties of the State in proportion to their scholastic 
population, whenever the state board should direct. 
County commissioners were to order a tax for sites and 
1 Senate Journal, p. 432. ^ Senate and House Journals, passim. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 235 

for building or renting schoolhouses, to be assessed and 
collected in the same manner as other county taxes. 
Local township committees were to "establish and main- 
tain, for at least four months in every year, a sufficient 
number of schools at convenient localities, which shall 
be for the education of all children between the ages of 
six and twenty-one years residing therein." The duties 
usually belonging to such officers were described: to 
provide a schoolhouse and its furniture; to employ and 
dismiss teachers; to maintain all the schools "for an 
equal length of time during the year, with equal rights 
and privileges"; to require the exclusive use of the text- 
books adopted by the state board; to visit the schools; 
to gather and report school statistics; and to attend to 
the details of the administration of the local schools. A 
county examiner was to be appointed by the county 
commissioners. His duties were to examine the teachers, 
to issue certificates, and to assist in enforcing the pre- 
scribed course of study and the rules and regulations 
governing the schools. The certificate granted by the 
examiner was to be valid only in the county where is- 
sued, and no person could teach without it. Separate 
schools were to be established for the children of the two 
races; "and such school or schools shall be supported, 
regulated, and instructed in the same manner and to the 
same extent as any other public school or schools of the 
same grade." 

The course of study prescribed by the new law con- 
sisted of reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geogra- 
phy, and English grammar, and "such other studies as 
may be deemed necessary." Seventy -five per cent of 
the state and county capitation taxes were to be ap- 
plied to public-school support; and in addition to this 



236 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

source of support, " in order that the schools may be con- 
tinued for a term of four months," the Legislature ap- 
propriated the sum of $100,000 " out of any moneys in the 
treasury not appropriated otherwise." All school funds 
were to be apportioned on the basis of the school census. 

In case any township failed at its annual meeting "to 
provide for schools to be taught at least four months for 
that year, and to provide for fuel, and to make any other 
provisions necessary for the efficiency and success of the 
schools, the school committee shall immediately for- 
ward to the county commissioners an estimate of the 
necessary expenses, and a tax equal to the amount of 
such estimate shall be levied on the township by the 
county commissioners at the same time that the county 
taxes are levied, and the school committee, under the 
direction of the county commissioners, shall provide 
whatever shall be necessary for the schools for four 
months, and pay all expenses for the same out of the 
funds raised by the tax" thus levied. We shall have 
occasion to refer further to this provision later. 

In most respects the law of 1869 was practically the 
same as the ante-bellum educational legislation of the 
State, except for a definitely prescribed school term, and 
provision for a general school tax, and for the education 
of the freedmen. With these three exceptions the Recon- 
struction law was, to all intents and purposes, practi- 
cally a copy of the law of 1839 and its subsequent 
revisions; and the system created in 1869 was, in its 
essential features, manifestly an adaptation of the sys- 
tem in operation in the State before the war. Concern- 
ing the educational changes produced by the war and 
Reconstruction more will be said in the next chapter. 



THE BEGINNINGS OF RECONSTRUCTION 237 



REFERENCES 

Constitution of 1868; Journals of the House and Senate; 
Public Laws of North Carolina; Legislative Documents; 
Weeks, Calvin Henderson Wiley and the Organization of the 
Common Schools of North Carolina; Smith, History of Education 
in North Carolina; Fleming, Documentary History of Recon- 
struction; Hamilton, Reconstruction in North Carolina; Hart, 
The Southern South; Dunning, Reconstruction Political and 
Economic; Murphy, The Present South; Knight, "The In- 
fluence of Reconstruction on Education in the South;" and 
"Some Fallacies concerning the History of Public Education 
in the South," in South Atlantic Quarterly, October, 1914. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What was the difference between the presidential plan of 
Reconstruction and the congressional plan? 

2. How widespread was the belief that ante-bellum, edu- 
cational conditions in the South were responsible for the 
war? 

3. What influence did slavery have on public education in 
the South before 1860. 

4. What efforts were made in North Carolina between 1865 
and 1868 to provide educational facilities adapted to the 
changed conditions? What was done in other Southern 
States during this time? 

5. Why was the office of state superintendent of schools 
aboHshed in 1866? 

6. Compare the composition of the Legislature of 1866 with 
that of 1868. Compare the work of the two bodies. 

7. Compare the ante-bellum constitutional provisions for 
education with those made by the convention of 1868. 
In what respect were the latter provisions more advanced 
than the former? 

8. Compare the ante-bellum school law with the law enacted 
by the Legislature of 1868. In what ways was the Recon- 
struction act more thorough and advanced than previous 
school legislation? 



CHAPTER XII 

EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 

The elaborate constitutional and legislative provi- 
sions for education, enacted in 1868 and 1869, served well 
as the framework of a school system adequate for both 
races. In this respect the work of the Convention and 
of the Legislature had been well done. But elaborate edu- 
cational statutes were not alone sufficient to begin and 
maintain a system of schools. Moreover, education was 
now confronted by new and peculiar obstacles. There 
was a feeling of uncertainty and insecurity, caused by 
the changed conditions of the time and by the poverty 
of the State; the inexperience, ignorance, and prejudice 
that came from the new order of things produced dis- 
couraging circumstances ; and, although the opinion was 
gaining that schools and education were to be universal, 
there was an apparent lack of genuine educational in- 
terest. The new status of the negro also complicated an 
already difficult condition. He had suddenly been given 
a place in politics without any preparation for it; the 
Freedmen's Bureau and other organizations were dis- 
bursing their funds recklessly for his education; school 
officials were often foreign in their sympathies and, 
guided by questionable motives or by visionary mission- 
ary zeal, hoped to raise him to a place of universal 
brotherhood, politically and socially. A new power had 
been transferred to him under the new regime. More- 
over, the possibility, under the constitution, of forcing 
mixed schools on the people produced a constant dread. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 239 

— though it was not so well founded in North Carolina 
as in some of the other Southern States, — and doubt- 
less strengthened a natural prejudice against such a 
system. And this was a consideration of much weight, 
not only in North Carolina, but in the entire South. 

S. S. Ashley, a minister and carpetbagger from Massa- 
chusetts, was elected the first superintendent of schools 
under the new regime. Though an earnest man and of 
some ability, he was narrow and possessed of pro- 
nounced prejudices which made him imprudent and 
reckless. His interest in a system of mixed schools which 
he wished to see established in the South, and his tend- 
ency to habits of his kind, together with the fact that he 
was said to be of negro descent, made him "one of the 
most unpleasant carpetbaggers in the State." 

Ashley's first report was dated November 10, 1868, 
and appeared before the new school law had been en- 
acted. The educational system had been only partially 
organized and the report was necessarily very brief, but 
it contained a few interesting educational facts. The 
total amount of income from all sources for educational 
purposes was shown to be about $32,000. This included 
the annual tax on auctioneers, entries from vacant lands, 
taxes on retailers, and a slight income from the old liter- 
ary fund. Comparing this condition with the liberal fund 
for school support before the war, the superintendent 
said : — 

A sad diminution! Prior to 1861, hundreds of thousands of 
dollars found their way into this treasury, and were distributed 
over the State, conferring upon not less than one hundred thou- 
sand white children the blessings of the free school. 

Instead of a great fund for the support of public schools, 
henceforth for a long time the people of the State must be 
taxed for this purpose. In the aggregate the tax may appear 



240 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

large and onerous. But, scanned in detail, 'per capita, it will be 
seen to be small. But, whether large or small, ignorance is a 
far heavier tax than education. A State can afford to be poor, 
but cannot afford to be ignorant. 

At a meeting of the state board of education in Sep- 
tember, 1868, it was ordered that the county school 
officials appointed under the act of February 28, 1867,^ 
immediately assume their duties under the new consti- 
tution, and make the usual report to the state superin- 
tendent. By this means the new school system was able 
to begin work on the organization of the system as re- 
vived by the law of 1867. This action was practically all 
that the superintendent was able to report in November, 
1868. The condition and needs of the university were 
noted, and the need for normal schools discussed. In this 
connection the superintendent said : — 

Within four years the free schools of this State will require 
at least four thousand teachers — good teachers. Unless means 
for training these teachers are immediately instituted, whence 
will come the supply.'* ... To within a recent period, the pro- 
vision made by this State for free public Schools was not only 
generous, but munificent. All circumstances considered, 
scarcely any sister State of the Union surpassed North Caro- 
lina in this regard. A new era has now dawned, and it is hoped 
that the future care of the Commonwealth for her free public 
schools will not be less liberal or less noble than the past. 

In August, 1869, the superintendent believed that a 
few schools would be in operation by the following Oc- 
tober and that many communities would be supplied 
with schools by January, 1870. School taxes were to be 
collected, some communities had to build new school- 
houses, and the school machinery set in operation gener- 
ally. It was believed that the available public-school 
1 See p. 224. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 241 

fund would be $300,000, and that aid from the Peabody 
Board, which was being sohcited for towns and cities, 
would not only furnish immediate material assistance, 
but would also serve as an educational stimulus by in- 
creasing the schools and lengthening their terms. In less 
than a month, however, the superintendent had changed 
his opinion, and in September advised the agent of that 
fund to withhold appropriations to any towns in the 
State until the townships had fulfilled the requirements 
of the law in establishing schools. Moreover, the super- 
intendent was discouraged because the taxes were coming 
in slowly. An exhibition of the several sources of the ed- 
ucational fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
1869, showed no taxes whatever. 

Ashley's second report dealt with conditions in the 
State during the year ending September, 1869. The 
school law had been in operation only a few months and 
the system was not in full operation. However, all the 
counties except Onslow and Edgecombe had reported a 
few facts to the superintendent. The school population 
for that year was 330,581. Of this number 223,815 were 
white and 106,766 were colored. The whole number of 
schoolhouses reported was 1906, and 685 of these were 
described as in bad condition. The sum of $165,290.50 
was apportioned among the counties, on the basis of the 
school population, an amount which would have al- 
lowed about fifty cents to each census child. But the 
superintendent "apportioned" this sum on the assump- 
tion that the legislative appropriation of $100,000 would 
be available and that at least an equal sum would be de- 
rived from the capitation taxes. But the appropriation 
turned out to be only a paper appropriation and was not 
paid. And this continued to be the case throughout this 



242 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA ' 

period. In fact, not until 1899 did the public schools of 
the State receive any legislative appropriation from the 
general treasury. As for the capitation taxes, on which 
the superintendent was also depending for his apportion- 
ment to the counties, but little money was realized from 
that source. This condition also continued for several 
years. For the year ending September 30, 1870, the 
total amount of taxes collected for public schools was 
$136,076.92, and only $38,981.86 of that sum seems to 
have actually gone for educational purposes. 

Several outside educational agencies were at work in 
the State, however, and rendered excellent service dur- 
ing the early years of Reconstruction. The Baltimore 
Association of Friends during 1869 established for white 
children forty-four schools with sixty-five teachers and 
an enrollment of more than three thousand pupils. These 
schools were located in Guilford, Yadkin, Iredell, Ran- 
dolph, Alamance, Orange, Wayne, Northampton, and 
Perquimans Counties, and had an average term of more 
than six months. Between 1865 and 1869 this associa- 
tion built thirty -two new schoolhouses in the State. The 
Soldiers' Memorial Society of Boston, the American 
Unitarian Association, and the Peabody Board, which 
had begun its work in 1867, were also rendering aid to a 
number of schools in the larger towns of the State. ^ 

The education of the freedmen was also receiving at- 
tention from a number of sources. Numerous charitable 
and religious organizations early began work in the State 
and furnished needed facilities for negro education. 
Among these societies were the New England Freed- 
men's Relief Association, New York National Freed- 

^ See chap, xiii for a discussion of the work of the Peabody Board 
in North Carolina. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 243 

men's Relief Association, American Missionary Associa- 
tion, Friends' Freedmen's Aid Association, Freedmen's 
Commission, the Protestant Episcopal Church, and the 
Presbyterian General Assembly.^ Practically all these 
societies were also at work in South Carolina and in 
other Southern States at the same time. 

Through the Freedmen's Bureau, established by Con- 
gress March 3, 1865, the education of the negro was 
further aided. By the act creating the Bureau no pro- 
vision for education was made, but soon it turned atten- 
tion to this work as one of its important functions. The 
Reverend F. A. Fiske, of Massachusetts, was appointed 
superintendent of this part of the Bureau's work and 
launched an extensive educational campaign, and large 
numbers of negro schools were established and carried 
on with zeal and effectiveness. By 1869 there were 431 
such schools in the State with 439 teachers and more 
than 20,000 pupils. Most of the teachers were white and 
practically all came from the North. Many of them 
were earnest, courageous, and devoted, and untiring in 
their efforts, but frequently they lacked tact and a 
thorough knowledge of the actual condition and needs 
of the class for whom they labored. Indiscreet criticisms 
of the South and of the Southern people tended to an- 
tagonize the negroes against the whites, and to arouse 
among the latter bitter prejudice against the Bureau's 
teachers and their work. Moreover, failure to enlist the 
sympathy and cooperation of the influential white 
people of the State created an unfortunate attitude 
toward the education of the negro which persisted for 
many years after the work of the Bureau concluded. 

The state board of education also^ gave special 
^ Hamilton, op. cU., p. 314, note. 



244 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

attention to the education of the negro by creating the 
oflSce of assistant superintendent of public instruction. 
This action was taken, however, without any constitu- 
tional or legislative authority. The place seems to have 
been made for the Reverend J. W. Hood, a negro carpet- 
bagger of rather unsavory reputation, who had served 
on the Committee on Education in the Constitutional 
Convention of 1868. He immediately began his duties 
of superintending the work of negro education, and his 
report for the year 1869 showed numerous negro schools 
in operation, supported by church and charitable socie- 
ties and organizations. More than 150 schools, with 224 
teachers and an enrollment of 11,826, were reported in 
the State in that year. Some of the more important of 
these were conducted by the Friends. The report said : — 

In educating the freedmen, the Friends are doing a work 
of praiseworthy benevolence. Without expectation of fee or re- 
ward; without attempting to teach the peculiar tenets of their 
faith; without any apparent desire to advance the interest of 
their own denomination, they are laboring to dispel the mist 
of ignorance which has so long hung over the colored people of 
the South. The Bible is introduced into all of their schools, but 
is read without comment. The teachers are selected without 
regard to sex, sect, section, nativity or complexion. They are 
particular, however, respecting the moral character of the 
teachers. 

In 1869 the Friends were maintaining thirty-seven 
schools in North Carolina with an enrollment of nearly 
twenty -five hundred pupils. Facilities for the education 
of the negro were unexpectedly extensive. Nearly all 
the towns contained one or more schools for the freed- 
men, and private schools and Sunday schools were also 
assisting in their education. Hood's report stated that 
there were but few counties east of the Blue Ridge 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 245 

that did not have schools in which negroes were re- 
ceiving instruction. 

Ashley's report for the year ending September 30, 
1870, showed that the State at that time had 1,071,361 
inhabitants of whom 391,650 were negroes. The total 
number of public schools reported as maintained in 
the State was 1398; the estimated number was 1415. 
Schools were kept in seventy -four of the ninety counties. 
The whole number of children reported attending the 
public schools was 31,093; the estimated number was 
49,000. The school population was about 229,000 white 
and 113,000 colored. The negro schools reported by 
Assistant Superintendent Hood numbered 347, with 372 
teachers and 23,419 pupils. The whole number of 
teachers employed was placed at 1400 with an average 
monthly salary of $20.21. The number of schoolhouses 
reported was 709; of these 309 were frame buildings and 
358 were log. The total amount of revenue available for 
school support was $152,281.82, but only $42,862.40 
had been expended for schools. The Peabody Board 
'was aiding the better regulated schools of the towns and 
was rapidly stimulating interest in education. In the 
main the school system was as successful as could have 
been expected during times of bitter party strife and 
violence. But the uncertainty of future legislation, 
together with other unfortunate conditions, had created 
numerous obstacles for the friends of public schools. 
Moreover, there were many inherent defects from which 
the system suffered. Teachers were scarce and incom- 
petent, the school law was defective, there was a lack of 
school funds, school officials were careless and negligent, 
and textbooks were scarce. It is interesting to note here, 
however, that the series of textbooks which the board of 



246 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

education adopted for use in the schools contained the 
same readers and arithmetics which were recommended 
by Wiley and used in the State before the war.^ 

Lack of funds was one of the greatest weaknesses of 
the system. The income from the literary fund was 
small, the legislative appropriation could not be paid, 
and capitation taxes, seventy-five per cent of which was 
designed for educational purposes, were poorly collected. 
In March, 1870, a small tax of one twelfth of one per 
cent was authorized to be levied on the taxable property 
of the State in order to provide means of paying the 
legislative appropriation of April, 1869, but the tax was 
neither properly levied nor properly collected. Less than 
$23,000 was derived from this source the first year. 
Only a small part of the apportionments made to the 
counties could be paid, and this condition continued for 
several years. In 1871 there was no additional legisla- 
tive provision for schools, and, what was even worse, 
county oflBcials were accused of applying to other pur- 
poses the school funds derived from state and county 
capitation taxes. 

A new and unexpected cause for discouragement ap- 
peared in 1870, in a decision of the supreme court which 
held that the law of 1869, so far as it provided for local 
taxes for education, was unconstitutional and could not 
be enforced. The constitution and the school law defi- 
nitely prescribed the manner by which "a general and 
uniform system of schools" should be maintained for 
four months in the year. The law provided that local 
school committees should annually estimate the amount 
of money necessary for the support of schools during the 
prescribed term, and report the estimate to the township 
» Leg. Doc, Session 1870-71, no. 6. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 247 

trustees and to the county commissioners ten days 
before the annual township meeting. In case the town- 
ship failed to make provision for the necessary funds a 
local tax was to be levied for the amount of the estimate. 
On account of scarcity of funds for school purposes it 
was obvious that a considerable tax would be required 
on each district to maintain a school four months each 
year. It was also obvious that the straitened financial 
condition of the State made the people unwilling to be 
taxed further. The result was that the local officials 
failed to make the estimate or report to the county 
officials, and, as a rule, the taxes were not levied. More- 
over, whenever the question of levying a tax was sub- 
mitted to a vote of a community, " the people, without 
regard to party, voted against the tax almost unani- 
mously." 

The question soon arose as to whether the county 
commissioners could levy the tax after it had been de- 
feated by a vote of the people. Section seven, article 
seven, of the constitution said: — 

No county, city, town, or other municipal corporation shall 
contract any debt, pledge its faith, or loan its credit, nor shall 
any tax be levied or collected by any officers of the same, 
except for the necessary expenses thereof, unless by a vote of 
the majority of the qualified voters therein. 

If funds for the support of the public schools were 
necessary expenses, a tax for such funds could have 
been levied without or even against a vote of the people. 
If schools were not a public necessity, funds for their 
support could have been levied only by a vote of the 
qualified voters in the community. 

Craven County furnished a test case. The school 
officials of a certain district in 1870 estimated the ex- 



248 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

penses necessary to provide a four months' school and 
reported the estimate to the trustees of the township. 
The question was submitted to a vote of the people and 
a majority voted against the tax. However, the county 
commissioners proceeded to levy a tax on the property of 
the township to secure funds for maintaining the school. 
Complaint was filed that the commissioners had violated 
the constitution in that the levy had not been authorized 
by a vote of the people, and also in that in levying the 
tax the constitutional equation of taxation had not been 
observed. The judge ordered a temporary injunction to 
be issued until the defendants could appear and show 
cause why an injunction should not be issued to restrain 
the collection of the levy. The defendants answered 
that in making the levy they had obeyed the constitu- 
tion and the school law, and that the tax did not require 
a vote of the people because it was levied for necessary 
expenses. On November 12, 1870, the injunction was 
dissolved. The case was appealed to the supreme court, 
however, and in the following January decision was 
given in favor of the plaintiffs, thus reversing the order 
of the lower court. The opinion of the court concerned 
two points. In the first place, it was held that the tax 
was not a necessary expense, within the meaning of the 
constitution. The second point concerned the equation 
of taxation. The constitutional limitation of state and 
county taxation was sixty-six and two thirds cents on 
the hundred dollars' valuation and a capitation tax of 
two dollars, and the court held that this equation had 
not been observed.^ 

The effect of this decision tended to be destructive 
to the school system. One clause in the constitution 
» 65 N. C. 153. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 249 

required the county commissioners to maintain schools 
in every township for four months in every year, while 
another clause made it impossible to do so legally. With 
popular opinion against levying taxes for educational 
purposes the school law was practically ineffective and 
the continuance of schools seemed doubtful unless pro- 
vision could be made for them by correcting the defec- 
tive legislation of 1869. 

When the Reform Legislature met in the fall of 1870 
there was evidence that some relief would be afforded. 
This body had thirty-six conservatives in the Senate 
and seventy -five in the House; the radicals had fourteen 
in the Senate and forty-two in the House. Among the 
radicals there were three negroes and two carpetbaggers 
in the Senate and nineteen negroes and two carpet- 
baggers in the House. Thomas J. Jarvis, of Tyrrell 
County, who had been a prominent conservative in the 
preceding Legislature, was chosen Speaker of the House, 
and E. J. Warren, a conservative member from Beaufort 
County, was chosen President of the Senate. With the 
exception of two acts, one reducing the salaries of state 
officers, and the other looking to " the better protection 
of the literary fund," no legislation of educational im- 
portance was passed at the first session of this Legisla- 
ture, which concerned itself almost entirely with the im- 
peachment of Governor Holden. The first of these acts 
was passed in pursuance of a policy of economy, and 
both laws showed the conservative reaction to the radi- 
cal regime. The salary of the superintendent of public 
instruction was reduced from $2400 to $1500, the clerical 
force of his office was removed, and no money was al- 
lowed him for traveling expenses. Similar reductions of 
expenses were made in other state offices. The law 



250 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

looking to a better protection of the literary fund made 
it unlawful for the state board of education to lend any 
amount of public funds under their control except by 
legislative direction. 

At the second session, begun in the fall of 1871, a new 
school law was passed which looked to an improvement 
in conditions. The law differed from the law of April, 
1869, which it repealed, by making more liberal provi- 
sions for school support and by providing a plan by 
which institutes for the training of teachers could be 
held. A levy of six and two thirds cents on the hundred 
dollars' valuation was made on all the taxable property 
and credits in the State, to be collected by the sheriffs 
under the same rules, regulations, and penalties pre- 
scribed for the collection of all other county taxes. 
A special capitation tax of twenty cents was also levied 
for school purposes.^ At the next session of the Legis- 
lature, which was likewise conservative, an annual tax 
of eight and one third cents on the hundred dollars' 
valuation was levied on all the taxable property in the 
State, and the special capitation tax was raised to 
twenty-five cents. As before, seventy-five per cent of the 
state and county capitation taxes was applied to educa- 
tional support. The law also gave authority to the com- 
missioners of each county to levy an additional tax on 
the property and polls of the county for school support, 
but the levy had to be authorized by a majority of the 
qualified voters. The defect of this law was the same as 
that of previous educational legislation in the State: 
the right of local taxation was granted to the counties, 
which would often vote against it, and was withheld 
from the districts, some of which would have taxed them- 
1 Laws of 1871-7id, chap. 189. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 251 

selves to maintain free schools. This had been one of the 
chief defects of the ante-bellum school law. 

In September, 1871, after his salary had been reduced, 
Ashley resigned his position as superintendent of schools 
and accepted a position in a school for negroes in New 
Orleans. To fill the vacancy Governor Caldwell ap- 
pointed Alexander Mclver, a professor in the state uni- 
versity. He had been considered for the nomination as 
the Republican candidate for the position in April, 1872, 
but was defeated by James Reid, a retired minister of 
advanced years. Reid died before he was installed and 
before Mclver left the office to which he had received 
the governor's appointment. The governor was then 
urged to appoint G. W. Welker to the position, but he 
refused to do so, and instead appointed Kemp P. Battle, 
who accepted the place. Mclver refused to surrender 
the position, however, and, being sustained by the 
supreme court in his contention that there was no va- 
cancy because no successor had legally qualified, he con- 
tinued to hold the position until the next election.^ 

Mclver's report for the year ending September, 1872, 
showed that the total amount of state funds expended 
for school support in the State was $155,393.96. The 
sum of $35,675.52 was received from property taxes in 
seventy-six counties during the year, and about $108,000 
was derived from capitation taxes. Certain donations 
and a few items from other sources brought the total 
school fund up to about $332,000. The school popula- 
tion reported was 267,938, of which number 182,698 
were white and 85,240 colored children. The enrollment 
in the public schools showed 34,294 white and 16,387 
colored children. The number of teachers examined and 
^ Hamilton, op. cit., p. 616. 



252 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

approved was 2132, as follows: white males, 1261, fe- 
males, 413; colored males, 317, females, 141. 

Incomplete reports from the counties make a fair 
view of educational conditions during that year almost 
impossible. The number of schools in operation could 
not be ascertained or safely estimated, and the average 
school term and teachers' salaries also failed to be noted. 
As for the proportionate distribution of the school funds 
between the two races, it appeared that the sum of 
$71,861.35 was paid for the education of the white chil- 
dren in forty-six counties, and $27,256.19 for the colored 
children in the same counties. Conditions in general 
showed but little improvement. One sign of interest 
and improvement appeared, however, in the organiza- 
tion and maintenance of teachers' institutes in 1872. 
This means of improving the teachers of the State was 
made possible by the law of February, 1872, which ap- 
propriated fifty dollars to each institute organized and 
held in the State, a sum which was supplemented by 
a like amount from the Peabody Board. As a result 
six institutes were held within a year after the law 
was passed: the Cape Fear Teachers' Institute, held at 
Wilmington; the Cherokee Teachers' Institute, held at 
Murphy; the Graham County Teachers' Institute, held 
at Fort Montgomery; the Lowell Normal Institute, held 
at Newbern; the Friends' Institute, held at Springfield; 
and the Ellendale Teachers' Institute, held in Alexander 
County. The institutes continued for four weeks, and 
the attendance on each varied from thirty -seven to fifty 
teachers. 

In spite of an improvement in school legislation condi- 
tions continued far from satisfactory, and the general 
aspects of education were undergoing but few changes. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 253 

The principle of education by public taxation had been 
settled upon, but the application of that principle and 
the adjustment of the school system to the needs and 
conditions of the State proved more difficult tasks. The 
school law was defective, there was indifference on the 
part of the people, the local tax provision was proving 
vague and uncertain, and litigation was often resorted 
to by those who were opposed to it. Local taxes were 
frequently not levied or collected and the state taxes 
were often uncertain and tardy in becoming available 
for school purposes. The law which required the sepa- 
ration of the school funds from other public funds was 
not always observed, and unscrupulous officials were 
sometimes accused of using the school funds for other 
purposes. The schools languished or were suspended for 
want of efficient administration. Dr. Sears, the general 
agent of the Peabody Board, saw all these disorders in 
the State in 1872, and at the same time the superintend- 
ent complained of the same conditions. At no time since 
the war had the conservative political party, which was 
laboring for social, economic, and political reform, faced 
such a crisis. The popular mind was confused and con- 
fidence was generally shaken. 

Nothing was more confusing and alarming to the 
people of the State than the fear of mixed schools. 
Although the school law provided for an educational 
separation of the races, the constitution was silent on 
the subject, and there was a constant dread that by some 
means mixed schools would be forced on the people. 
Local conditions were made even more alarming through 
the attitude of Congress and its agitation of the Civil 
Rights Bill which looked to securing to freedmen rights 
identical with whites in hotels, in public conveyances, 



254 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

in schools, churches, and theaters. The measure passed 
the United States Senate May 23, 1874, and provided 
that 

All citizens and persons within the jurisdiction of the United 
States shall be entitled to full and equal enjoyment of the 
advantages of the common schools and other institutions of 
learning and benevolence without distinction of race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude. 

It had considerable support in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, but not enough to take it from the table out 
of its order, and the measure was not enacted. Its agi- 
tation, however, which was deplored by all friends of ed- 
ucation, of both political parties, temporarily retarded 
educational progress in every Southern State. In North 
Carolina, as in the entire South, opposition to mixed 
schools was very strong. When the measure was pending 
in Congress, Senator Merrimon asked the state superin- 
tendent concerning the probable effect on the schools in 
North Carolina if the bill became a law. Mclver re- 
plied: — 

No legislation in favor of mixed schools has ever been at- 
tempted in this State. Public sentiment on this subject is all 
one way. Opposition to mixed schools is so strong that if the 
people are free to choose between mixed schools and no schools, 
they will prefer the latter. The friends of education would 
therefore deprecate and most sincerely deplore any congres- 
sional legislation which might tend to force mixed schools 
upon the people. 

This was also the opinion of the Peabody Trustees, 
who doubted the origin of certain petitions to Congress 
and did not believe that they represented the saner 
sentiments of the colored people. The conclusion of a 
special committee, to which was referred that part of 
Dr. Sears's report in 1874 which dealt with the subject. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 255 

was unanimously adopted as a resolution. The resolu- 
tion held that 

the prospects and hopes of the pubhe systems of education in 
the South will receive a serious, if not fatal blow, from any 
legislation which should make such systems of education 
maintainable only upon the scheme of "mixed schools" as the 
organization requisite for such pubhc education. 

The trustees maintained that justice, public duty, and 
the interests of both races demanded equality of oppor- 
tunity, and that no such result could be promoted by 
a compulsory system of mixed schools. They also be- 
lieved that such a system would not only be pernicious, 
but that the greater share of the disastrous influence 
would be visited on the negro whose wants had all the 
while been the subject of diligent inquiry and of anxiety 
to the Peabody Board. ^ 

The effect of the proposed legislation was everywhere 
widely felt in the South. In North Carolina contracts 
for building new schoolhouses were held up, engagements 
with teachers were suspended, school oflScials resigned, 
and state legislation which looked to an improvement in 
the school system was delayed. The most conspicuous 
example of this was a bill which provided for the estab- 
lishment of city school systems in the State. This bill 
was introduced in the Legislature of 1872-73 and for a 
time was favorably considered. It was finally dropped, 
however, under the apprehension that the Civil Rights 
Bill would become a law.^ 

For the year ending June 30, 1873, only sixty-three 
counties made official reports of educational conditions. 

^ Proceedings, Peabody Board Trustees, vol. i, p. 411. 

* For the influence of the measure on education in Virginia see the 
author's discussion of the subject in the South Atlantic Quarterly for 
January and April, 1916. 



256 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

From these it appeared that the school population of 
the State was 348,603, of which number 233,751 were 
white and 114,852 were colored. The enrollment of 
white children was 106,039, with an estimated daily 
average attendance of 70,872. The number of colored 
children enrolled was 40,428, with an estimated daily- 
average attendance of 26,958. It was estimated that the 
number of public schools for white children was 2565, 
and the number for colored children, 746. The average 
school term was only ten weeks. The estimated number 
of white teachers examined and approved during the year 
was 2160; the number of colored teachers examined 
and approved was 530. The entire public school fund 
derived from all sources for the year was $408,830.67, 
and the total disbursements were $191,675.07. Of the 
disbursements the sum of $112,175.36 was expended 
for the salaries of white teachers, and $45,954.19 for the 
salaries of negro teachers. The sum of $25,100 was 
expended for building and repairing schoolhouses, the 
sum of $1520 was paid examiners, and $6025.52 was 
paid to the county treasurers as commissions for hand- 
ling the school funds. A balance of $217,155.60 was still 
in the hands of the county treasurers June 30, 1873. 

In spite of the discouraging conditions which sur- 
rounded the school system, one hopeful sign of educa- 
tional interest appeared in the summer of 1873. In April 
of that year the state board of education called all the 
friends of the schools to an educational convention to be 
held in Raleigh in July. The call was cheerfully re- 
sponded to and the convention attended by represen- 
tative men of both "political parties, of all the leading 
religious denominations, and of the principal institutions 
of the State.", The convention, continued three days, 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 257 

during which time the educational conditions of the 
State were discussed and plans made for improvement. 
Addresses were made by Governor T. R. Caldwell, 
Calvin H. Wiley, President Braxton Craven of Trinity 
College, Professor W. C. Doub of Greensboro Female 
College, Principal Robert Bingham of the Bingham 
School, Professor W. G. Simmons of Wake Forest Col- 
lege, Judge William H. Battle, Senator A. S. Merrimon, 
and other prominent men of the State. Among the reso- 
lutions adopted by the convention were the following : — 

That the general educational interests of this State are 
deplorable and alarming in a high degree, and are such as to 
require the noblest and most self-sacrificing efforts of every 
true son of North Carolina to relieve her from such serious 
embarrassment. 

That this convention respectfully but earnestly request 
and urge every friend of the State, the people, and particu- 
larly the clergy, all public speakers and the press, to be zealous 
and constant in making efforts to arouse the whole people to 
a realizing sense of the paramount importance of education, 
and especially of common schools, to the rising and coming 
generations, and of the overruling necessity for universal, active 
and cordial cooperation of all, to avoid the blight and the dis- 
grace of ignorance. 

Reports were submitted on the subjects of compulsory 
education, agricultural education, normal schools, text- 
books, educational journalism, school funds and taxation, 
higher education, improved methods of teaching, and 
other subjects of educational importance. A permanent 
organization was formed with Judge W. H. Battle as 
president; a resolution was adopted recommending the 
organization of permanent county associations; and, 
through the influence and efforts of Dr. Craven, a plan 
was begun for the publication of an educational journal. 

The second annual meeting was held in Raleigh in 



258 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

July, 1874, and continued three days. In addition to 
addresses by Governor Caldwell and President Battle 
the following papers were read and discussed: — 

"Hygiene in the Schools," by Dr. S. S. Satchwell. 

"Normal Methods," by Superintendent H. B. Blake. 

"Education in Congress," by Senator A. S. Merrimon. 

"Education by the Public Press," by Rev. T. H. Pritchard, 
D.D. 

"Examinations, Certificates, and Diplomas, Tests of 
Scholarship," by Dr. Braxton Craven. 

"Higher Education in North Carolina," by Ralph H. 
Graves. 

"History of Education in North Carolina," by Dr. Calvin 
H. Wiley. 

"The Duty of the State to educate her Children," by W. 
N. H. Smith. 

"Multiplicity of Studies," by Osborne Hunter, Jr. 

"Graded Schools," by Superintendent J. B. Boone. 

"Methods of Teaching," by Rev. Charles Phillips, D.D. 

"Pubhc Education," by Rev. Father J. V. McNamara. 

"Education in Georgia," by Superintendent Martin V. 
Calvin, of Augusta, Georgia. 

At this session plans were made for an educational 
campaign and for memorializing the Legislature for 
assistance in improving the public-school system. Con- 
siderable interest appeared in the work of the conven- 
tion and in the activities which were proposed. Espe- 
cially did it stimulate institute work in several sections 
of the State and encourage attention to the training of 
teachers. A few teachers' institutes were reported in 
1873 and others the following year. Among those in 
operation in 1874 several were attracting wide attention 
and were producing creditable results. Ellendale Teach- 
ers' Institute, in Alexander County, had an enrollment 
of forty -four teachers and a library of "fifty volumes 
of standard normal and educational works, and about 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 259 

thirty others of general interest to teachers." Meetings 
were held twice a month when topics of educational 
interest were discussed. The Finewoods Teachers' In- 
stitute, in Davidson County, held annual sessions of one 
month each. In 1874 forty-three were enrolled. "At 
each of these sessions lectures were given by prominent 
teachers and other distinguished gentlemen from abroad, 
and much interest was manifested by the popular gath- 
erings to witness the exercises." In the Asheboro Normal 
School the enrollment was one hundred in 1873 and 
seventy-five in 1874. Much interest was being created 
in public education through the work of this school. 
The Lexington Normal School, organized by the David- 
son County Board of Education, under a special act 
of the Legislature, had annual sessions of twenty-five 
days, and gave instructions to the teachers of both races. 
In 1874 the enrollment showed seventy-one teachers, 
thirty-six white and thirty-five colored, who were in- 
structed separately. The Cape Fear Teachers' Asso- 
ciation held annual sessions of one month, under the di- 
rection of the superintendent. This work began in 1872. 
"Superintendent Blake has since that time continued 
to meet the teachers of the public schools in different 
parts of the county on stated days, and instruct them 
in the modes of teaching, and has thus contributed much 
to public schools in New Hanover County." Most of 
these institutes were organized under the law of 1872, 
which was later repealed; but through encouragement 
and assistance given by the Peabody Board and the 
Educational Association, they were continuing their 
work with marked success. 

Reports for the year ending June 30, 1874, showed 
some educational improvement in the State. Public 



260 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

school funds for the year amounted to $496,405.23, and 
the disbursements were as follows : — 

To teachers of white schools $182,646 . 53 

To teachers of colored schools 77,615 . 25 

For school houses 22,676 .46 

For services of county examiners 2,854 . 55 

For commissions of county treasurers.. 11,802.06 

Total $297,594 .85 

Balance in the hands of the county 

treasurers $198,810.38 

Of the total school population of 369,960 the white 
children numbered 242,768 and the colored 127,192. 
There were 2820 schools for white children and 1200 
for colored children, with enrollments of 119,083 and 
55,000, respectively. The number of teachers exam- 
ined during the year was 2875, as follows: white males, 
1495, females, 613; colored males, 515, females, 252. 
The average school term was estimated at ten weeks. 
The superintendent made two recommendations to the 
Legislature : appointment of a county superintendent of 
schools in every county in the State, the positions to be 
filled by practical teachers of high qualifications, and 
provision for the training of teachers by county institutes 
or normal schools. 

In that same year, 1874, the conservatives nominated 
Stephen D. Pool for superintendent of public instruction. 
Mclver had rendered valuable service and should have 
been retained in ofBce, but unfortunately for the schools 
the position was kept in politics, from which connection 
the cause of education suffered. Pool was elected and 
assumed the duties of the office January 1, 1875, serving 
until July of the following year. At that time he was 
charged with irregularities in the handling of funds 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 261 

appropriated to the State by the Peabody Board while he 
served as its agent in the State, The irregularities, 
which were so gross as to suggest intentional fraud, so 
incensed "his party, which had made official corruption 
the chief count of its indictment against the Republi- 
cans," that Pool was forced to resign. Governor Brog- 
den appointed John Pool, a "discredited politician," to 
the position, which he held until January, 1877, when 
John C. Scarborough was inaugurated.^ 

The year 1876 is usually taken as the date which 
marked the overthrow of Reconstruction and the end 
of foreign rule in the Southern States. In that year the 
conservative element regained control of the state gov- 
ernments. In North Carolina the first step in the over- 
throw of the Reconstruction regime began with the 
impeachment and trial of Governor Holden by the Legis- 
lature of 1870-71 ; the concluding steps were taken by the 
Constitutional Convention of 1875 and the campaign 
which followed the next year. The work of the Conven- 
tion was of great importance politically and socially, 
many changes being made which promised the promo- 
tion of peace and good government in the State. Edu- 
cationally, also, the constitutional changes made it 
possible for the State to advance, for there was now no 
further fear of the possibility of mixed schools. Unlike 
the constitution of 1868, that of 1876 required separate 
schools for the children of the two races. 

The first Legislature under the new constitution, 
which went into effect January 1, 1877, passed two acts 
of great educational significance. The first of these was 
the law establishing two normal schools, one for each 

^ Hamilton, op. cit., pp. 617-18; Proceedings, Peabody Board Trus- 
tees, vol. IX, pp. 05, 66, 74. 



262 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

race, "for the purpose of teaching and training young 
men" for teachers in the common schools of the State. 
The sum of $2000 was annually appropriated and paid 
from the state treasury to support each school. These 
or larger sums continued thus to be appropriated and 
paid for that purpose for many years. The law required 
and expected all 

of |both races, who may be thus taught and trained for teachers 
of common schools, at the cost of the State, to apply them- 
selves, as far as practicable, to the occupation of teaching, 
within the borders of this State, for a term of not less than 
three years after leaving school.^ 

The other significant piece of educational legislation 
enacted in 1877, as soon as the conservatives regained 
power in the State, was an act giving authority to town- 
ships of a certain population to levy taxes for the sup- 
port of public graded schools. The law required a ma- 
jority of the qualified voters of the township to favor 
the levy before the tax could be legal. When legally 
ordered, however, a property tax of one tenth of one per 
cent and a capitation tax of thirty cents could be col- 
lected for educational purposes. The former property 
tax of eight and one third cents and the capitation tax 
of twenty-five cents were continued for general school 
support. Dr. Sears, general agent of the Peabody Board, 
expressed delight at these advanced legislative steps, 
declaring : — 

Public schools were now fairly put upon their own merits. 
There can, henceforth, be little question of their perpetuity, 
for the tide of public opinion has recently turned in their favor 
and it will not be easy to resist it. y\^\i 

1 Laws of 1877, chap. 234; Laws of 1881, chap. 141; Laws of 1885, 
chap. 143; Laws of 18S7, chaps. 400 and 408. 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 263 

The doctrine of universal education, free and open 
alike to all classes, was now generally accepted by the 
people at large, and continued to be so accepted so long 
as they were "free to act without unwelcome influences 
from abroad." 

From the facts given in this and the preceding chapter 
certain interesting conclusions are evident. We saw in 
Chapter XI, that the constitution of 1868 was much in 
advance of the ante-bellum constitutional provisions for 
education, in that it was more mandatory and thorough. 
We also saw that through the constitution and law of 
the Reconstruction regime at least three important edu- 
cational changes appeared in North Carolina, as indeed 
in all Southern States. These were provisions for a gen- 
eral tax for educational purposes, for the education of 
the negro, and for a definitely prescribed school term. 

The Reconstruction provision for school support was, 
in principle at least, a decided improvement over the 
ante-bellum method, although the combination of local 
taxation and the annual income from the literary fund 
proved a creditable means of supporting schools and well 
adapted to the conditions of the State before the war. 
The greatest merit of this method was in its service as 
a powerful stimulant to local effort in educational enter- 
prises. The popularity and eflBciency of the plan were 
beyond question. Shortly after the establishment of the 
system, in 1840, practically all the counties adopted 
the plan and levied and collected taxes to supplement the 
annual apportionment from the income of the perma- 
nent educational endowment. Moreover, expenditures 
for schools in^l840, the first year of the operation of the 
ante-bellum system, were practically as large as in 1870; 
and, in spite of the permissive and discretionary char- 



264 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

acter of the method used for school support, more than 
$100,000 of local taxes was annually collected for school 
support in North Carolina during the last years of the 
ante-bellum period. The literary fund thus stimulated 
local initiative, and sentiment in favor of an increase in 
taxation was rapidly developing at the outbreak of the 
war. With the loss of this fund the incentive to local 
enterprise and community effort was practically de- 
stroyed, and the schools were forced to depend on a 
general tax which, during Reconstruction and for two 
decades afterward, proved both insufficient and uncer- 
tain. Moreover, local tax sentiment, which needed to 
be revived and extended, for many years proved difficult 
to restore. 

The otherwise creditable school system in North 
Carolina before the war was defective in that taxation 
for education was not required either by the constitu- 
tion or by legislation. But the constitution and law of 
Reconstruction tended to correct this permissive and dis- 
cretionary character of the former system. Changes in 
the method of school support, therefore, were probably 
the most lasting and beneficial of all the contributions 
made by the period, not only to education in the South, 
but to American education in general. The general ef- 
fect of emancipation and the belief that Southern edu- 
cational ideals lay at the root of the war had a power- 
ful influence on educational legislation in all sections of 
the country. After the war there appeared a marked 
expansion of educational statutes in practically all those 
States which had previously been satisfied to depend for 
school support on the income from a permanent public 
endowment combined with a small local tax or a part 
of the capitation tax for school purposes. This custom 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 265 

was prevalent, not only in the South, but in other parts 
of the United States. Even an advanced State like 
New York did not abandon the so-called "rate bills" 
for school support until 1867. 

Provisions for the education of the negro appeared 
naturally as a logical result of emancipation. The act of 
freeing the negroes implied a certain promise to edu- 
cate and to provide opportunity to fit them, as far as 
possible, for citizenship. The changed political status 
of the negro also had an effect in other places as well as 
in the South; and provisions for his education became at 
least nominally effective in all sections of the country 
alike and at about the same time. In the South an un- 
fortunate attitude was often assumed toward the educa- 
tion of the negro, an attitude for which the Freedmen's 
Bureau was largely responsible. This represents another 
"part of the heritage of evil " left by Reconstruction. In 
North Carolina the education of the freedmen was 
viewed with cordiality and favor by the more represen- 
tative citizens of the State and would never have been 
regarded otherwise by other classes but for an unwar- 
ranted outside interference and an exploitation of the 
negro race by men who were both foreign in sympathy 
and visionary in judgment. Their indiscreet criticisms 
of Southern life and their failure to conciliate and to 
enlist the cooperation of the influential leaders created 
an unfavorable condition for the education of the negro 
race, and this condition persisted for many years after 
the South was restored to home rule. 

The other educational change which appeared with 
Reconstruction was a definitely prescribed school term, 
but the term prescribed was precisely the same as the ac- 
tual average term before the war. Again an anie-bellum 



266 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

educational practice of tlie State was adopted by the 
Reconstruction regime and claimed as a distinct con- 
tribution by the latter period. It should be borne in 
mind, however, that the average school term in North 
Carolina in post-bellum times, even as late as 1900, 
scarcely reached the average ante-bellum term. Like the 
"paper" appropriations of the Reconstruction regime 
the prescription of a school term proved ineffective. 

In other respects, also, the Reconstruction period 
suffers in comparison with ante-bellum practices in North 
Carolina. The average salary paid teachers before the 
war was higher than that paid during Reconstruction 
or until about 1900; a larger proportion of the school pop- 
ulation was enrolled in 1860 than in any year between 
1868 and 1876; and in the administrative organization 
of the school system, the ante-bellum provisions for the 
state, county, and local supervision, defective as those 
provisions may have been, were not improved by the 
law of 1869. The duties of the state superintendent and 
of the county and district officials were as clearly defined 
before 1860 as at the later period; and the administra- 
tion of these officials appeared more efficient under the 
ante-bellum system than under that of Reconstruction. 
School statistics, for example, were more nearly com- 
plete in 1860 than at any time between 1868 and 1876, 
and this is no mean test of interest in public education 
and of the efficiency of its administration. 

Finally, however. Reconstruction left other educa- 
tional legacies than those of an advanced constitutional 
requirement for public education, and of provisions for 
a uniform system of taxation for school support, for the 
education of the negro, and for a definitely prescribed 
school term. First of all, the constitution itself was not 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 267 

only ill-suited to the needs of the people, but contained 
conflicting provisions which proved inconvenient and 
retarding to educational progress. One clause required 
the maintenance of schools in every township for four 
months in every year, while another clause in the same 
constitution made the performance of this requirement 
legally impossible. For many years after the war the 
valuation of property adopted throughout the State was 
so low that nearly all the taxes it was possible to levy 
were required to carry on the state and county govern- 
ment, leaving but a pittance for the schools. Under the 
constitution it was impossible to raise by taxation enough 
money to maintain creditable schools; and so defective 
did this part of the school system appear, as the years 
went by, that amendments were frequently suggested 
and urged by which the constitutional limitation of 
taxation would not apply to taxes levied for the support 
of the public schools. The State is to-day laboring under 
the burden imposed by this defect in the constitution 
of 1868. 

The real educational benefits that did arise from eman- 
cipation and Reconstruction were further lessened by 
the folly and offense committed by the partisan plan of 
the period. The infamy of radical rule during the dark 
days of Reconstruction, and the incapacity and igno- 
rance which the negro displayed in his early partici- 
pation in political affairs, finally produced a reaction 
damaging alike to the education of the negro and to that 
of the white child. The efiFect of that period of political 
and financial license, when a multitude of passions and 
vices were riotously indulged, was naturally blighting to 
the enthusiasm which native conservatives and former 
leaders may have felt on the subject of education. The 



268 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

influence of politics on education during the period was 
direful and far-reaching. Fear of mixed schools and the 
poverty-stricken condition of the State perhaps com- 
bined to produce an educational indifference, if not 
outright hostility, which did not die with the death of 
Reconstruction. But local evils were intensified by the 
agitation in Congress of the Civil Rights Bill which 
threatened temporary destruction to education in the 
South generally, and produced an influence as deadly as 
it was persistent. 

Just what would have been the result in North Caro- 
lina had there been no outside interference is now, in the 
light of the facts, hardly a matter for speculation. On 
the whole, the evidence indicates that had the native 
conservative element been free to act, without unwhole- 
some influences from abroad, better educational policies 
would have been outlined than were made by the Re- 
construction regime. Reference has already been made 
to the noticeable expansion of educational statutes and 
the improvement of school systems after 1865. This 
expansion and improvement were general; everywhere 
there appeared a popular feeling that educational facili- 
ties should be extended and educational opportunities 
made more adequate and safe. This feeling was shared 
by leaders in the South, as well as in other sections of the 
country, between the close of the war and the beginnings 
of Reconstruction; and during the confusion of these 
years there was a marked interest in improving provi- 
sions for education in several of the Southern States 
which were expecting to have their relations with the 
national government restored in accordance with the 
executive plan of Reconstruction. 

In North Carolina, as we have seen, although the 



EDUCATION DURING RECONSTRUCTION 269 

oflSce of superintendent of public instruction was abol- 
ished in 1866, that action was not due to legislative hos- 
tility, but to the bankrupt condition of the State and 
because there appeared no plan for which this part of 
the system could be continued. Moreover, the same 
Legislature which took this action appropriated money 
to relieve the state university and made other efforts to 
assist the public-school system. It will be recalled that 
at that time the House actually passed a bill to appro- 
priate $75,000 annually for that purpose, but the meas- 
ure was defeated in the Senate. It will also be recalled 
that at the next Legislature, at a time of great confusion 
and uncertainty, when the state governments of the 
South as organized by the presidential plan were about 
to be replaced with military governments, the native 
white citizenship of the State passed acts which au- 
thorized taxation for school support and attempted to 
revive and improve the former school system. But for 
the crime of Reconstruction, therefore, the educational 
historian would have a different but better tale to tell of 
education in North Carolina and the entire South since 
the Civil War. 



270 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 



REFERENCES 

Constitutions of 1868 and of 1876; Journals of the House 
and Senate; Public Laws of North Carolina; Legislative Docu- 
ments; Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; 
Fleming, Documentary History of Reconstruction; Hamilton, 
Reconstruction in North Carolina; Hart, The Southern South; 
Dunning, Reconstruction Political and Economic; Knight, The 
Influence of Reconstruction on Education in the South; Reports 
of the Supreme Court of North Carolina; Proceedings of 
the Peabody Board Trustees. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What were some of the conditions which retarded edu- 
cational growth in North Carolina between 1868 and 
1876? 

2. What conditions aided educational sentiment during 
those years? 

3. What outside educational agencies operated in the State 
following the war? 

4. Discuss the work of the Freedmen's Bureau during Re- 
construction. 

5. What was the chief defect of the State's educational 
system during Reconstruction? 

6. Show how the defective legislation of the period retarded 
education. 

7. What was the Civil Rights Bill? What effect did it have 
on education in North Carolina? In other Southern 
States? 

8. What was done for training teachers in the State during 
Reconstruction ? 

9. What good effects did the war and Reconstruction have 
on education in North Carolina? In other Southern 
States? In other sections of the country? 

10. What evils did the period bring to Southern education 
in general? To education in North Carolina? 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE WORK AND INFLUENCE OF THE 
PEABODY FUND 

Perhaps the most wholesome and beneficial influence 
affecting education in all the Southern States, especially 
during the dark days which followed the war, came 
through the work of the Peabody Fund. This endow- 
ment was created in 1867 by George Peabody, a native 
of Massachusetts, who spent the last thirty years of his 
life in London. There he accumulated a vast fortune, 
and at the close of the war he became especially inter- 
ested in the encouragement of education in the destitute 
Southern States. Accordingly, in February, 1867, he 
created a trust fund of $1,000,000, to which in July, 
1869, he added another million, to encourage and assist 
educational effort in "those portions of our beloved and 
common country which have suffered from the destruc- 
tive ravages, and not less disastrous consequences, of 
civil war." These two millions constituted the bulk 
of the productive capital. Nearly a million and a half 
in Mississippi and Florida bonds proved unproductive, 
being among securities which those States repudiated. 
As a result Mississippi and Florida were omitted in the 
distribution of the income from the Peabody Fund, from 
1886 to 1892, at which latter date, on motion of ex- 
President Hayes, and by unanimous vote of the trustees 
the two States were reinstated as beneficiaries. 

Mr. Peabody named as trustees of this fund sixteen 
men of prominence and distinction : Robert C. Winthrop, 



272 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

of Massachusetts; Hamilton Fish, of New York; Bishop 
Charles P. Mellwaine, of Ohio; General Ulysses S. 
Grant, of the United States Army; Admiral D. G. Far- 
ragut, of the United States Navy; William C. Rives, of 
Virginia; John H. Clifford, of Massachusetts; William 
Aiken, of South Carolina; William M. Evarts, of New 
York; William A. Graham, of North Carolina; Charles 
Macalester, of Pennsylvania; George W. Riggs, of 
Washington; Samuel Wetmore, of New York; Edward 
A. Bradford, of Louisiana; George N. Eaton, of Mary- 
land; and George Peabody Russell, of Massachusetts. 
In his letter, dated at Washington, February 7, 1867, 
creating the trust, he said : — 

I feel most deeply, therefore, that it is the duty and privi- 
lege of the most favored and wealthy portions of our nation 
to assist those who are less fortunate; and with the wish to dis- 
charge, so far as I am able, my own responsibility in this mat- 
ter, as well as to gratify my desire to aid those to whom I am 
bound by so many ties of attachment and regard, I give to 
you, gentlemen, most of whom have been my personal and 
especial friends, the sum of one million of dollars, to be by 
you and your successors held in trust and the income thereof 
used and applied in your discretion for the promotion and 
encouragement of intellectual, moral, or industrial education 
among the young of the more destitute portions of the South- 
ern and Southwestern States of our Union; my purpose be- 
ing, that the benefits intended shall be distributed among the 
entire population, without other distinction than their needs 
and the opportunities of usefulness to them. 

The following resolutions, adopted March 19, 1867, 
embody the plan of the trustees : — 

1. Resolved, That for the present the promotion of primary 
or common-school education, by such means or agencies as now 
exist, or may need to be created, be the leading object of the 
Board in the use of the fund placed at its disposal. 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 273 

2. Resolved, That in aid of the above general design, and 
as promotive of the same, the Board will have in view the 
furtherance of the normal school education for the prepara- 
tion of teachers, as well by the endowment of scholarships in 
existing Southern institutions as by the establishing of nor- 
mal schools, and the aiding of such normal schools as may now 
be in operation in the Southern and Southwestern States; in- 
cluding such measures as may be feasible, and as experience 
shall dictate to be expedient, for the promotion of education 
in the application of science to the industrial pursuits of hu- 
man life. 

A third resolution, provided for the appointment of a 
general agent, "of the highest qualifications," to whom 
was to be committed, with the advice of an executive 
committee, the entire charge of carrying out Mr. Pea- 
body's designs. Under this resolution. Rev. Dr. Barnas 
Sears, president of Brown University, Providence, 
Rhode Island, was offered the appointment which he 
accepted March 30, 1867. It may well be questioned 
whether any other man could have brought more valu- 
able training and experience and greater adaptability 
and resourcefulness to the delicate and difficult duties 
of the position. He soon fixed his residence in Staunton, 
Virginia, so as to be in close communication with the 
region for which he labored so wisely and so ably for 
thirteen years. ^ 

The directions of Mr. Peabody were that the principal 
of the fund should remain intact for thirty years. It 
could not be expended, neither could it be increased by 
accruing interest; but the method of using the annual 
revenue, as well as the final disposition of the original 
endowment, was left entirely to the discretion of the 
trustees. The solution of this latter question was, by 

} Dr. Sears died July 6, 1880, at Saratoga, New York. 



274 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

common consent, left to future developments and the 
ripe wisdom of the self -perpetuating board of trustees. 
The immediate need was obviously in the field of ele- 
mentary instruction for the masses of Southern youth, 
and the Board early determined to give assistance to 
public free schools. The policy of the trustees was to 
cooperate, whenever possible, with state authorities, so 
as to prevent disorder and to secure unity and strength 
of action. The funds were not to be distributed as a 
charity to the indigent; this had been a more or less 
prevalent ante-bellum educational practice in several of 
the Southern States, proving inadequate to any effec- 
tual relief, wasteful and ineflScient, and productive of no 
permanent and valuable results. Moreover, the funds 
were not to be appropriated according to population or 
according to comparative community destitution, but 
on the sound principle of helping those communities 
which would help themselves. The invariable adherence 
of the Peabody Trustees to this principle, throughout 
the operation of the fund, was probably the greatest 
single educational blessing the South ever enjoyed. 

The plan formulated for the promotion of educational 
enterprise was designed from the outset to stimulate and 
encourage local initiative and community efiFort. All 
schools aided by the fund were to have at least one 
hundred pupils each, with a teacher for every fifty, and 
an average term of ten months. The sum of $300 was 
usually given to a school with an enrollment of one 
hundred, $600 to one having an enrollment of two hun- 
dred, and $1000 to one having as many as three hundred 
pupils enrolled. A card similar to the following was fre- 
quently distributed in order to acquaint the people with 
the plan and method of the trustees : — 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 275 

For well-regulated public free schools, containing ten months 
of the year, and having an enrollment of not less than 

100 pupils, averaging 85 per cent attendance, the Peabody Board pays $ 300 
150 " " 8.5 " " " " " " " $ 450 

200 " " 85 " " " " " " " $ 600 

250 " *' 85 •' " " " " " " $ 800 

SOO " " 85 " " " " " " " $1000 

The schools are expected to pay for current expenses two 
or three times as much as the Peabody Board appropriates, to 
be graded, and to have a teacher for every fifty pupils. 

As a rule colored schools received two thirds of the 
above amounts. These amounts were always given on 
the condition that the town or community receiving 
the aid should raise by subscription or otherwise at least 
twice or three times as much as the Peabody Board ap- 
propriated to it. Moreover, an average standard attend- 
ance was required as a further qualification for partici- 
pation in the bounty. The soundness of this principle 
of distribution is only one of the creditable features of the 
organization of the fund. In addition to confining its at- 
tention to public free schools, the fund was thoroughly 
committed to the following principles in promoting edu- 
cational endeavor : — 

1. Rendering aid to schools where large numbers of children 
could be gathered and where a model system of schools could 
be organized and maintained. 

2. Giving preference to those places which showed promise 
of influencing the surrounding community. 

3. Making a limited number of schools effective rather 
than undertaking the "multiplication of schools languishing 
for want of sufficient support." 

4. Working for an improvement of state systems of educa- 
tion, — "to act through their organs, and to make use of their 
machinery whenever" such agencies were offered. 

5. Favoring the establishment and maintenance of normal 
schools over normal departments in colleges and academies. 



276 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

6. Giving special attention to the preparation of female 
teachers for primary schools, "rather than to general culture 
of young men in colleges, who will be likely to teach in the 
higher schools for the benefit of the few." 

7. Encouraging colored students who were preparing to 
teach to attend regular normal schools. 

8. Favoring the support of state supervision, the formula- 
tion of state teachers' associations, and the publication of edu- 
cational periodicals. 

The policy of the fund and its administration was 
thus outlined. "Free schools for the whole people" be- 
came its motto and aim. And the conditions on which 
every appropriation was to be made were just those 
needed to secure cooperation with and security for the 
plan. No other method could have created or assisted 
in creating a wholesome educational sentiment or could 
have had the effect of encouraging local taxation for 
public schools. The absence of any element of charity 
in the plan of distribution, as a means to temporary re- 
lief, is a living witness to the judgment which marked 
the entire administration of the trust. 

The States aided by the fund were those which be- 
longed to the Confederacy and West Virginia. North 
Carolina was one of the jfirst to participate in the dis- 
tribution. Only a few months after the creation of the 
trust, arrangements were nearly completed for aiding a 
school in Salisbury to the amount of $500; and at the 
same time efforts were made to secure an appropriation 
for Hillsboro. More work would have been under- 
taken that year but for the absence from the State of 
William A. Graham, the North Carolina trustee, who 
was very familiar with the State's educational needs, 
and for whose personal influence there was probably no 
substitute. The amounts received by the towns and 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 277 

communities of the State gradually increased so that by 
1877 the sum of $87,600 had been appropriated to them 
from the Peabody Board. During the same time Vir- 
ginia received $201,250; West Virginia, $107,710; 
Georgia, $71, 062; Arkansas, $60,600; Mississippi, $58,- 
578; Louisiana, $55,850; Alabama, $55,450; Tennessee, 
$191,650; Florida, $48,450; South Carolina, $27,650; 
Texas, $18,600; making a total of $984,450. 

The sum of $22,000 was available for the State of 
North Carolina in 1868. But on the advice of Calvin 
H. Wiley, former superintendent of public instruction, 
Mr. Sears visited only the larger towns, where arrange- 
ments to comply with the conditions of the Peabody 
appropriations were completed. Applications for aid 
also came from private academies and colleges in the 
western part of the State, seeking endowment, but these 
could not be considered. Wilmington was offered $1500 
on condition that it would raise $3000; Newbern was 
promised $1000 if its citizens would raise $2500; and 
Raleigh and Charlotte were to receive $1000 each on the 
same condition. Offers were similarly made to Golds- 
boro, Greensboro, and Fayetteville. Through F. A. 
Fiske, superintendent of education for the colored 
people of the State, Mr. Sears learned that the colored 
schools were "in a precarious, staggering condition on 
account of extreme poverty. ..." and the sum of 
$4000 was offered, on the usual conditions, to aid these 
schools. The sum of $500 was also given to aid a colored 
normal school in Raleigh. 

In addition to these money appropriations, a few 
textbooks were distributed in the State in 1868. These 
were elementary texts, gifts of the A. S. Barnes Pub- 
lishing Company, D. Appleton and Company, Cowper- 



278 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

thwait and Company, and Sheldon and Company. 
More than jBfty thousand copies of these books were 
distributed in the South from September, 1869, to 
September, 1870. Some of the books given by these 
pubhshlng houses were: Webster's Elementary Speller 
(25,000 copies); Webster's Elementary Reader (25,000 
copies); Cornell's First Steps in Geography (25,000 
copies); Quackenbos's Primary Arithmetic (20,000 
copies); Quackenbos's First Book in Grammar (5000 
copies); Page's Theory and Practice of Teaching (500 
copies) ; Welch's Manual of Object Lessons (500 copies) ; 
Davies's Outlines of Mathematical Science (500 copies) ; 
Holbrook's Normal Methods of Teaching (250 copies); 
Wells's Graded Schools (250 copies); Jewell's School 
Government (250 copies); Fowle's Teacher's Institute 
(250 copies); Bates's Methods of Teacher's Institute 
(250 copies); Mansfield's American Education (250 
copies); Mayhew's Universal Education (250 copies); 
Northend's Teacher's Assistant (250 copies) ; Northend's 
Teachers and Parents (250 copies) ; Root's School Amuse- 
ments (250 copies); Stone's Teacher's Examiner (250 
copies) ; National Second Reader (5000 copies) ; Davies's 
Written Arithmetic (5000 copies); Monteith's Second 
Book in Geography (5000 copies); Beer's Penmanship 
(5000 copies) ; Monteith's United States History (3000 
copies) ; A First Book of Science (500 copies) ; Jar vis's 
Physiology and Health (500 copies); Peck's Ganot's 
Natural Philosophy (500 copies); Smith and Martin's 
Bookkeeping (500 copies). 

Only $2700 of appropriations from the fund seems to 
have reached the State in 1868. Considerable more than 
this had been available, but it was hardly an opportune 
time for educational enterprise. The popular mind was 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 279 

agitated over the ratification of the new constitution in 
April, the call for a special session of the Legislature 
in July, and the approach of the regular session of that 
body in the autumn. Few of the offers previously made 
to towns and cities had been formally complied with, 
and Mr. Sears did not visit the State between July, 1868, 
and the following January. But he arranged with the 
Reverend H. C. Vogell, government superintendent of 
colored schools in the State, to select, superintend, and 
aid from the Peabody Fund such colored schools as 
would "otherwise have failed wholly or in part." 

By April, 1869, a new school law had been passed 
providing for the establishment and maintenance of 
schools for the education of all the children of the State. 
In August the superintendent of public instruction be- 
lieved that some of the schools would be opened by 
October and many of them by January, 1870. State 
funds for educational purposes, amounting to about 
$300,000, would be available and would afford accom- 
modations for about 75,000 children. The Peabody 
Board could now act as a great stimulant in inducing 
cities and towns to furnish funds supplementary to the 
aid appropriated by Mr. Sears, which in 1869 amounted 
to $6350. 

Wilmington was maintaining free schools by volun- 
tary subscriptions amounting to $7500 and $1500 re- 
ceived from the Peabody Board. Newbern had failed to 
comply with the offer made by the Board in 1868 and 
was providing for only half of its white children; but on 
urgent request of the city council, the original offer was 
renewed on condition that provision be made for the ed- 
ucation of all the white children there. Later the New- 
bern Academy was opened as a public school to which 



280 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

all the white children of the town were admitted. The 
sum of $300 was given to Newport on the usual condi- 
tions, and the same amount offered to a charity school in 
Charlotte on condition that it be converted into a pub- 
lic school. Little River Academy received $300. This 
school had been made free in all the common English 
subjects, had helped to break down the "barriers of 
caste," and had assisted in uniting the entire community 
educationally. Smithville received $300, Hillsboro $500, 
and $300 was offered to Thomasville. The school in 
Salisbury had suspended, and Raleigh and some other 
towns, to which offers of aid had been previously made, 
had been unsuccessful in their efforts to comply with the 
conditions. In most of these cases Mr. Sears renewed his 
offers. 

The public-school system established by the Legis- 
lature in 1868-69 had struggled through its first year 
with as much success as was expected in times of such 
violent party strife. Both coldness and opposition had 
confronted it. Moreover, taxes had been only imper- 
fectly collected, the schools, therefore, poorly supported, 
and there was a lack of general educational interest, of 
competent teachers, and of competent officials. The 
school population of 1870 was about 344,000, and the 
total enrollment was slightly in excess of 50,000. But 
there was an encouraging growth of educational senti- 
ment in towns and communities which were being stimu- 
lated to local effort by the Peabody Board. Wilmington 
assumed control and support of its schools, which had 
previously been maintained by private contribution, 
the city adopting them and making appropriations to 
their support, and the Peabody Board continuing its 
aid of $1000. Newbern was this year (1870) receiving 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 281 

$300 from the fund. Fayetteville was promised $1000; 
the sum of $600 was appropriated to Washington to 
assist a white school and a colored school; Hillsboro 
received $500, Oak Ridge $150, and a colored school in 
Charlotte $200. In addition to these the following places 
had fulfilled the conditions which were attached to the 
Peabody appropriations and in 1870 received $300 each: 
Cottage Home, Gilmer's Store, Hayes ville, Jamestown, 
Kenansville, Mars Hill College, Mount Gilead, Grassy 
Creek, Durham's Creek, Newport, Polletier's Mill, Roan 
Mountain, Smithville, Springfield and Thomasville. 

The following year did not see very many encourag- 
ing signs of educational growth in North Carolina, and 
the public mind, in the matter of free schools, was not 
so well settled there as in most of the other Southern 
States. The supreme court had decided that the school 
law, so far as it provided for local school taxes, was un- 
constitutional and could not be enforced; the Legislature 
levied no school taxes for 1871, and the county com- 
missioners were in many cases accused of using the capi- 
tation taxes for other than educational purposes. The 
general aspect of education was undergoing but few 
changes. The principle of general education by public 
support had been agreed upon as the correct principle; 
but its application, in North Carolina at least, proved 
a more difficult task. Educational legislation, though 
well intended, had been hurriedly framed by lawmakers 
of little experience; local tax legislation was vague and 
uncertain, and litigation was resorted to by those who 
were opposed to it; officials seemed to have but little 
interest in the schools, many of which languished for 
want of proper administration. 

These were some of the conditions which Mr. Sears 



282 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

faced in his work in North Carohna in 1871. But he con- 
tinued his labors there discreetly and with caution. He 
assisted Wilmington and Newbern again with $1000 
each. In Newbern he found that opposition was being 
rapidly overcome and that the "partisan private 
schools" there had "been compelled to succumb to the 
generous provisions we have been enabled to make for 
all" those who take advantage of them. About 400 pu- 
pils were being educated in Wilmington and over 300 
in Newbern. Washington had a white school with 132 
pupils and a colored school with 451, and Mr. Sears gave 
$300 to the former and $600 to the latter. Durham's 
Creek, with an enrollment of 142, received $300; Beau- 
fort, with a school of 150 white pupils, was promised 
$450 if it continued ten months, and $400 for its colored 
school with 200 pupils on the same condition. Smith- 
ville received $450 for its white school of 170 pupils and 
three teachers, and $200 for its colored school of 100 
pupils and two teachers. It was said that a hundred chil- 
dren were being taught in these two places to read and 
wTite, "who, but for these schools, never would have 
known a letter." Other towns and communities aided 
this year were: Hillsboro, $500; Ne^T3ort, $450; Kenans- 
ville. Grassy Creek, Carthage, Edneyville, Township 
No. 9, Mars Hill College, Mount Olive, Westfield, Sandy 
Mush, Blue Ridge, Chocowinity, Cane Creek, and Bush 
Hill, $300 each. A negro school at Kinston received $300, 
one at Plymouth $200, and one at Charlotte $200. 
Eighteen other schools, three of which were for negroes, 
received amounts ranging from $200 to $500; and the 
sum of $1000 was offered to aid teachers' institutes. 

For the next year, ending July, 1873, the general 
agent did not report educational conditions in the State 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 283 

any more promising than hitherto. Indifference among 
the common people and a lack of cooperation among 
public men were everywhere noticeable. "Nowhere," 
said Mr. Sears, "has it been more clearly demonstrated 
that half-measures in establishing and supporting public 
schools cannot be attended with great success." It was 
feared that in many, if not in most, of the counties no 
schools would open in the fall ; systematic and energetic 
efforts were needed to enlighten the people so that they 
would demand of the Legislature a working system of 
schools. The popular mind was confused and discon- 
certed by the agitation in Congress of the famous Civil 
Rights Bill, which Charles Sumner labored to enact in 
1871-72. No legislation in favor of mixed schools had 
ever been attempted in North Carolina, and public 
opinion there was unanimously hostile to it. 

Only in cities and towns, and largely in those which 
were being aided by the Peabody Board, were any seri- 
ous efforts being made to maintain free public schools 
during these stormy days. The wisdom of the original 
policy of the trustees was confirmed by their action in 
the face of the discouraging circumstances of the time. 
They early saw the necessity of giving "preference to 
places which will, by their example, exert the widest 
influence upon the surrounding country." Any other 
method would have been wasteful, inefficient, and prob- 
ably injurious; an unwise distribution of their funds 
could easily have demoralized the very region whose 
common sense and practical effort needed to be aroused 
in favor of education. But the concentration of assist- 
ance on a few strategic educational points, which were 
sustained by an intelligent and wholesome public senti- 
ment, served to conciliate opposition when men were 



284 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

violent in the bitter expression of their disgust and rest- 
lessness, to enlist community cooperation when all 
sense of personal responsibility was deadened, and to 
encourage when apprehension verged on despair. The 
wisdom of the plan, adhered to so strictly, yet so dis- 
creetly and with such astonishing success, was early con- 
firmed in many communities, and has had its triumphant 
vindication in the subsequent movement in the South 
for local taxation for school purposes. 

Wilmington furnished an early example of the influence 
of the policy in North Carolina. In the winter of 1873 
the town became responsible for its schools, and the 
authorities levied a local tax to supplement the county 
and state school taxes, to make more adequate provision 
for its children who now numbered nearly 1000. "We 
flatter ourselves," wrote the chairman of the local school 
committee, "that the start now taken in Wilmington 
will, in time, extend to every part of the State." From 
June, 1872, to July, 1873, Wilmington and Newbern 
received $1000 each. Washington received $600, 
Hillsboro $500, and some of the other places aided this 
year were: Hayesville, Catawba Vale, and Waynesville, 
$450 each; Portsmouth, Leicester No. 1, Leicester No. 2, 
Lebanon, Hendersonville, Hunting Quarter, Charlotte, 
Linville, Walnut Creek, Grassy Creek, Old Fort Town- 
ship, Dysartville, Otter Creek, Big Laurel, Sulphur 
Springs, Hominy Valley, Bridge Water, Belmont, 
Democrat, Locust Field, Morgan Hill, Qualla Town, 
Newport, $300 each; a negro school at Warrenton re- 
ceived $400, one at Fayetteville $300, and one at Oxford 
$300. The sum of $300 was appropriated to aid six 
teachers' institutes. 

The noble design of the great philanthropist was being 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 285 

followed with fidelity and jealous care. In the work of 
the school year ending June, 1874, the superintendent 
of public instruction noticed an improvement in both 
pupils and teachers, and consequently increased interest 
in public education; and the influence of the Peabody 
Board received credit from that officer for this change. 
The school law was still defective, however, in that it 
failed to provide for the education and training of teach- 
ers and for efficient county and district supervision, and 
no authority for local taxation. The superintendent 
declared : — 

The people are not deficient in energy or public spirit, or 
in a due appreciation of popular education. Our great want 
is statesmen in our legislative halls — laws that will permit 
the people to establish and maintain public schools for the 
education of their children. The want of active county super- 
vision has been very greatly felt in administering the Pea- 
body Education Fund. 

Mr. Sears, however, felt more hopeful for the future. 
He was now convinced that "nothing in the future is 
more certain than the acceptance of that principle, the 
doctrine of free schools by the people at large, if they are 
free to act without unwelcome influences from abroad." 
And to hasten such a time he distributed in 1874 more 
than $12,000 to thirty different schools, thus stimulating 
interest in educational development. Wilmington re- 
ceived $2000, Newbern received $1000, and Charlotte 
received $1050. Among the other places aided were: 
Franklin and South Hominy, $450 each; Mill Shoal, Flat 
Creek, Table Rock, Dick's Creek, Clear Creek, Enon, 
Warrenton, Thomasville, Asheville, Hayesville, Dysart- 
ville. Rice Hill, Beaufort, Washington, Morgan Hill, 
Marshall, Pigeon Valley, Buffalo, Montanis Institute, 
and Bethlehem, $300 each; Smyrna, $200; a negro school 



286 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

at Beaufort and one at Tarboro, $300 each; one at 
Fayetteville, $50; and the sum of $100 was given to 
teachers' institutes. 

By 1875, the schools aided by the Peabody Board 
were numerous in the State and the appropriations were 
larger than for any other year. Interest in public educa- 
tion was gradually increasing, though the State was not 
yet making equal educational progress with Virginia. 
The superintendent of public instruction was spending 
four months of the year as local agent of the Peabody 
Board, visiting various places in the State, setting the 
subject of public school properly before them. The 
towns and communities receiving appropriations this 
year were: Charlotte and Newbern, $1000 each; Laurel 
Branch, Balsam Seminary, Pleasant Hill, Rocky Hill, 
Ivy Shoal, Flat Creek, Grantville Seminary, Web- 
ster School, Cowee School, Fleming's Chapel, Shoal 
Creek Seminary, Roan Mountain, Pisgah, Smyrna, 
Smithfield, McElrath Chapel, Waynesville, Mill Shoal, 
New Salem Church, Laurel Hill (White Rock), Antioch 
School, Rocky Point, Grassy Creek, Ream's Creek, 
Nebo Creek, Dick's Creek, Fork Mount, Hicksville, 
Oak Grove, Harrol Township, Laurel Fork, Lewisburg 
Township, Capernaum Institute, River Bend, Blue 
Ridge, Washington School, Laurel Hill (Clay County), 
Cheoah, and Warrenton, $300 each; Hillsboro, $250; 
Journal of Education, $200; a negro school at Charlotte, 
$600; one at Fayetteville and one at Tarboro, $450 each; 
and $500 was appropriated for the North Carolina agency. 

The successful operation of such schools and the free 
discussion of education soon led to the conviction that 
public schools were a necessity. In general, however, no 
great changes in pubhc sentiment appeared in August, 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 287 

1876, though steady progress in that direction was seen 
in spite of new obstacles. The state superintendent was 
charged with irregularities in the management of funds 
and resigned, and a successor was tardily named in his 
place. The state tax for schools was slight. A local tax 
was hardly known, and the policy of appointing politi- 
cians to head the educational system had revealed its 
extreme weakness and danger. The general jfinancial 
embarrassment, common to all the Southern States, and 
the maladministration in the handling of school funds 
added to an already discouraging condition. Educa- 
tional legislation, prepared hastily by those who had no 
experience to guide them, was commonly defective. 
Offices had been needlessly multiplied and unwisely dis- 
tributed, and the school system burdened with super- 
numeraries; responsibilities were divided, and chances 
of active official cooperation were greatly decreased. 
The unwarranted outside interference in educational 
matters which Mr. Sears viewed with apprehension 
complicated an already anomalous condition; but the 
work of Mr. Sears and his Board, and the sight of success 
in the schools aided from that source, helped to keep 
alive a certain educational spirit. And appropriations 
continued to be made. 

From October, 1875, to the summer of 1876, the fol- 
lowing towns and communities were aided : Wilmington 
(for two years), $2000; Newbern, $1000; Warrenton 
and Greensboro, $750 each; Smithfield, Smyrna, Dy- 
sartville, Nebo, Hillsboro, $300 each; a negro school at 
Fayetteville, and one at Charlotte, $450 each; a negro 
school at Tarboro and one at Raleigh, $300 each; the 
agency for North Carolina, $500; the Journal of Educa- 
tion, $200; and teachers' institutes, $100. 



288 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

The return to "home rule" was made in North 
CaroHna in 1876, when the conservatives regained the 
state government. The new constitution was adopted 
January 1, 1877, and the Habihty of having mixed 
schools, which had been a matter of great consideration, 
was now removed. Forward educational steps are at 
once in evidence. One of the evidences of the change is 
the immediate provision for two normal schools, one 
for each race, and for their equal support from the State. 
A crying need of the years of Reconstruction was for 
competent teachers, and the only safe, thorough, 
efficient, and permanent policy was state establishment 
and support of normal schools. The Legislature 
appropriated $2000 to each of these institutions. Au- 
thority was also granted towns of a certain size to levy 
an extra property tax for schools of as much as one 
tenth of one per cent and a capitation tax of twenty- 
five cents for educational purposes was continued. Mr. 
Sears seems encouraged: — 

Public schools are now fairly put upon their own merits. 
There can henceforth be little question of their perpetuity, for 
the tide of pubHc opinion has been recently turned and set 
so strong in their favor that it wUI not be easy to resist it. 

From the summer of 1876 to the summer of 1877 the 
Peabody Board appropriated $1500 to Raleigh, $750 to 
Greensboro, $600 to Wilmington, $500 to normal schools, 
$950 to the delinquencies of the state superintendent, 
and nine other schools each received from $250 to $450. 
Among these were two negro schools, one at Fayette- 
ville and one at Charlotte. 

In 1878 the wise administration of the trustees, 
through their able agent, Dr. Sears, took account of the 
changing demands in the South and began to apply the 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 289 

aid of the fund to the preparation of teachers. This aid 
was extended by assisting teachers' institutes and also 
by granting scholarships to the Normal College at 
Nashville, Tennessee. Through these scholarships, 
which were awarded to promising young men and wo- 
men of the Southern States, a large number of teachers 
were annually well trained and returned to their home 
States for public educational service. One of the im- 
mediate results of this distribution of the fund was the 
growing interest taken in normal schools and the train- 
ing of teachers. Soon after the new plan was begun 
many encouraging signs appeared, and a new era for edu- 
cation began to dawn. The trustees also continued to aid 
educational journalism and to stimulate educational en- 
terprise in as many ways as possible. 

From 1878 until a final disposition was made of the 
fund. North Carolina continued to share in its distribu- 
tion. In 1878 about $4500 was distributed to graded 
schools, normal schools, and to other educational work 
in the State; and until 1907, sums varying from $3000 to 
$7000 were annually appropriated to aid the educational 
interests of the State. A part of these amounts was for 
scholarships in the Normal College at Nashville, which 
were eagerly sought after and very highly prized. 

Certain definite results of the influence of the fund 
appear. It aided in the stimulation of local enterprise 
and community patriotism and the gradual rise of city 
and town school systems; in encouragement to the final 
establishment of complete state systems of schools; in 
the gradual removal of hostility to educating the freed- 
men; and it had a tendency to aid in removing the bitter 
spirit of sectionalism. 

We have already seen that as much as $87,600 v\^as 



290 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

appropriated to North Carolina during the first ten years 
of the operation of the fund. This means that com- 
munities raised by local taxation or otherwise between 
$262,000 and $350,000 for education in the State which 
would otherwise not have been available. This does not, 
however, represent the permanent value of the spirit of 
local effort which was thus stimulated and which gradu- 
ally developed and spread throughout the State; it 
would be difficult to estimate that spirit. It is enough 
to indicate the manner in which the Peabody appropria- 
tions early aided in the development of sentiment for 
local taxation for school purposes. After 1874, by special 
permission of the Legislature, several towns and cities 
were given authority to place their schools on a more 
efficient and substantial basis, extending their terms, 
and increasing their equipments and teaching forces. 
This idea of improvement gradually grew until it 
reached most of the towns of the State. 

The final establishment of complete state systems of 
public schools was also aided by the policy of the trus- 
tees and^the personal efforts of the agents of the fund. 
Through public addresses, conferences with legislative 
committees, and consultations with public leaders, Mr. 
Sears helped to make education appear as a function of 
government, a theory which soon became generally 
secure in the public mind. A property tax for purposes 
of education soon came to be regarded as legitimate and 
essential, opposition to which had before this time been 
more traditional than rational. And the general move- 
ment for normal schools and teachers' institutes, sup- 
ported and maintained by the State, is easily traceable 
in its development and growth to the influence and aid 
of this benefaction. 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 291 

Hostility >to, or prejudice against, the idea of furnish- 
ing educational facilities to the freedmen was probably 
somewhat diminished by the influence of the fund. To 
offer the children of the emancipated slaves educational 
advantages equal to those now afforded the children of 
their late masters, in opposition to all tradition and 
custom, required a courage and a liberality that few 
men were thought to possess. And while a few slowly 
and with feeling made the necessary adjustment, the 
general disposition on the part of representative 
Southern leaders to discriminate against the colored 
people was rarely seen. Cases of discrimination were the 
exception rather than the rule; most of the leaders felt 
kindly toward the colored people until foolish ideas of 
unworthy teachers and of visionary and impassioned 
zealots created mischief and alarm among those who 
labored to preserve the integrity of Southern life. In 
spite of the confusion of the times and the vicious condi- 
tions and influences which lent themselves in making 
more difiicult and delicate the problem of sympathetic 
racial cooperation, the Southern States gave nearly 
$110,000,000 between 1870 and 1900 to help educate 
the negro. The apparent disparity in the number of 
schools for white and for colored children was due to the 
extreme difiiculty and often impossibility of securing 
qualified teachers for the negro schools. 

While the trust was established primarily to help 
" the educational needs of those portions of our beloved 
and common country which have suffered from the 
destructive ravages, and not less disastrous conse- 
quences of civil war," Mr. Peabody clearly had in mind 
the promotion of the common good. "This I give to the 
suffering South for the good of the whole country" was 



292 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the sentiment which he expressed when he made his 
second great donation in July, 1869. This benefaction of 
a Northern man, the caution and tact of his trustees, 
and the activity of their efficient and able agents, and 
finally, the influence on the masses of the gradual 
growth of a wholesome educational sentiment, for 
developing which the fund had been so faithfully used, 
helped to remove much of the bitter sectionalism which 
was known generally to exist, and to establish and main- 
tain a bond of fellowship between the two sections so 
lately at war. Mr. Winthrop, for so long chairman of the 
board of trustees, pronounced the gift " the earliest man- 
ifestation of a spirit of reconciliation toward those from 
whom we have been so unhappily alienated and against 
whom we of the North had been so recently arrayed in 
arms." 



WORK AND INFLUENCE OF PEABODY FUND 293 



REFERENCES 

Proceedings of the Peabody Board Trustees, annual after 
1867; Ayres, L. P., Seven Great Foundations; Report of the 
United States Commissioner of Education, 1893, vol. i, pp. 
739-71; Annual Reports of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of North Carolina, 1869-1904; Knight, "The 
Peabody Fund and its Early Operation in North Carohna," 
in South Atlantic Quarterly, vol. xiv, no. 2; Alderman and 
Gordon, J. L. M. Curry, a Biography; Curry, History of the 
Peabody Fund. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What was the purpose of the Peabody Fund? 

2. Note the plan adopted for administering the fund. How 
did the plan stimulate educational interest and effort? 

3. How did the endowment stimulate the rise of pubhc high 
schools in North Carolina? 

4. What schools did the fund aid in your county? 

5. How did the fund stimulate local taxation in your com- 
munity? 

6. What aid was given to teachers' institutes in your county? 

7. In what other way did it aid teacher training in your 
county? 

8. How did the fund probably assist in decreasing preju- 
dice to the education of the negro? 

9. Compare the principle on which the fund was distrib- 
uted to the principle on which the literary fund was dis- 
tributed before 1860. 



CHAPTER XIV 

ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT (1877-1900) 

Not only was a great political and social change tak- 
ing place in North Carolina and in the other Southern 
States in 1876, but educational changes appeared as well. 
These changes were apparent in both sentiment and 
action. Men of reflection had agreed that an ignorant 
and debased people could not contribute toward the 
resources of the South, and free public schools for all 
classes were accepted as the only remedy for a desolate 
condition. In most sections schools began to advance in 
almost every respect. Attendance increased, popular in- 
terest in education became more general, school manage- 
ment greatly improved, and proficiency in the teachers* 
art began to show growth. Teachers' institutes and nor- 
mal schools were rapidly multiplying and developing in 
efficiency in almost every State. In North Carolina 
educational conditions appeared more hopeful than at 
any time since the war. 

This sudden change in educational enterprises is no 
less astonishing than creditable. The rebuilding of a 
public-school system after the war was a more difficult 
problem in the South than in any other part of the 
Nation; and the question of educating all the people 
soon became more critically important to the Southern 
States than to any other section of the Union. The 
South emerged from the Civil War with a loss of fully 
one tenth of her white male population and practically 
all of her accumulated capital. Not only was it difficult 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 295 

to restore the material resources necessary for an ef- 
ficient school system, but the crime of Reconstruction 
made the restoration of public confidence a difficult and 
tedious process. In fact. Reconstruction proved more 
destructive than the war. Not only did it rob the South 
of what the war had spared, but by looting treasuries, 
squandering school funds, imposing enormous taxes, 
practicing fraud and extravagance, and by piling up 
colossal bonded debts, it succeeded in running its corrupt 
and criminal fingers deep " into the pockets of posterity." 
In North Carolina Reconstruction left a debt of 
$38,000,000, and more than $300,000,000 in the South. 
Thus, by the greatest tragedy in modern history, — the 
war and its aftermath, — many of the richest portions 
of the South were wasted and shorn of their prosperity, 
industry was checked, idleness and fraud were widely 
encouraged, local justice thwarted and put in contempt, 
the people ruled by evil and corrupt officials, and tend- 
encies to good government stifled. This experience 
explains why the South has been charged with educa- 
tional backwardness since the Civil War, with a reputa- 
tion for hating taxes and tax collectors, and with distrust 
of "public welfare" plans and movements. In this ex- 
perience may also be found an explanation for the so- 
called devotion of the South to a sort of laissez-faire 
theory in education, and frequent extreme applications 
of the principle of local government in educational ad- 
ministration. Here, again, are still other "heritages" of 
Reconstruction. 

In view of the experiences of that bitter period, it is 
indeed surprising that the South, during the past forty 
years, has finally very largely overcome the financial and 
political relapses of the war and Reconstruction, and has 



296 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

SO rapidly outgrown the deadening indifiference which 
was born of pitiable poverty and the burden of a great 
wrong. Gradually, however, the South turned her face 
toward the future and, for the sake of her children, 
endeavored to forget the past. The thoughtful men of 
the time knew that the fortunes and prosperity of the 
South could be restored only by school systems adapted 
to the changed conditions; they understood that the 
industrial development of the South and her religious 
and social development all depended on the general 
education of the people. The beginning had to be made 
in poverty and discouragement, and in the face of 
numerous difficulties which tested the hope of a peo- 
ple already threatened with despair. But recuperation 
gradually set in, and so rapidly has it gained that the 
economic and social changes of the past forty years can 
scarcely be matched in all human history. With homes 
burned, fields laid waste, the political, industrial, and 
social systems destroyed; with many of her leaders 
dead, and with a generation of widows and orphans to 
educate and care for, the South, poverty-stricken, under- 
took the maintenance of two systems of schools for the 
proper training of her youth. For many years progress 
was necessarily slow, and much even now remains to be 
(lone. But what has been achieved finds explanation in 
the remarkable bravery, heroism, and industry of the 
Southern people which made them unwilling to live un- 
der the shadow of a bitter past. 

' Signs of an awakening began to appear in North 
Carolina in 1876|when .the return to "home rule" was 
made. The gospel of public education for all classes 
began to be preached again and with an enthusiasm that 
was as rare as it was remarkable. In November of 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 297 

that year Governor Brogden said to the new Legisla- 
ture : — 

Education is of the greatest value and importance to the 
people, and it should receive the cordial approbation and 
encouragement of all. . . . The hope of our State rests with a 
more thorough system of common schools. The position which 
she will in the future hold in the Republic must greatly depend 
upon the correct instruction given to the people. Our children 
must be elevated in the scale of intelligence ere the perpetuity 
of the RepubUc can be well assured, and nothing should be per- 
mitted to swerve us from our eflforts to popularize education. 

He also called attention to the need of provisions for 
training teachers, urged support for the university, and 
recommended a college for the education of the negro, 
and the passage of laws by which towns and cities could 
tax themselves for free-school support. 

Twojnojgthsjater, in January, 1877, Governor Vanc^ 
urged legislative attention "to the great subject of 
education." With his message he sent a memorial of the 
Central North Carolina Teachers' Association which 
asked the Legislature for the consideration for education 
"which its importance demands." The memorialists be- 
lieved that the general educational fund was liberal, but 
that the results accomplished were not commensurate 
with the provisions of the constitution and the school 
fund. 

The money is spent, and the children are not educated. The 
people are taxed to support the schools, but they derive very 
little benefit from them. . . . The true remedy is, to permit 
the people of each townsliip and of each city and incorporated 
town in the State to tax themselves by a majority vote for 
school purposes. There is no sufficient reason why the people 
of North Carolina should not enjoy tliis right and privilege 
which is enjoyed in almost all the other States of this Union. 
Surely the people may be trusted in this, as in other States, to 



/ 



298 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

take care of themselves, and provide for the education of their 
children. 

The memorialists also asked for adequate provision 
for the education of teachers. Lack of this provision had 
been a crying need of Reconstruction and the defect was 
widely felt. It was believed that the defect could be par- 
tially remedied by authorizing an annual county appro- 
priation for teachers' institutes. Moreover, need was also 
felt for a fully organized normal school in which pro- 
spective teachers, as well as those already in service, 
could be drilled in the subjects taught in the public 
schools and also given training in methods of teaching 
and school management. Continuing, the memorial 
said : — 

The public schools are the nurseries of the future citizen. 
A very large majority of the people will begin and end their 
education in these schools. Hence, whatever is done by educa- 
tion to make them better citizens must be done here. A with- 
holding here would tend only to poverty. We are an indus- 
trial people, and our prosperity must depend mainly upon the 
great industries of agriculture and the mechanic arts. We will 
prosper as these interests are developed; and decline, as they 
are neglected. The branches of learning which tend to develop 
these great interests are already provided for in the university. 
To place them within the reach of the people, they should 
be put into the public schools. To this end your memorialists 
would ask that you establish a thoroughly organized normal 
school in the university. 

In transmitting the memorial Governor Vance said: — • 

It is impossible to have an effective public-school system 
without providing for the training of teachers. The blind can- 
not lead the blind. Mere literary attainments are not suf- 
ficient to make its possessor a successful teacher. There must 
be added ability to influence the young and to communicate 
knowledge. There must be a mastery of the best modes of 
conducting schools, and of bringing out the latent possibili- 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 299 

ties, intellectual and moral, of the pupil's nature. In some rare 
cases these qualities are inborn, but generally it is of vast ad- 
vantage to teachers to be trained by those who have studied 
and mastered the methods which have been found by experi- 
ence to be the most successful in dispelling ignorance and in- 
culcating knowledge. The schools in which this training is 
conducted, called normal colleges, or normal schools, have 
been found by experience to be most efficient agents in raising 
up a body of teachers who infuse new life and vigor into the 
public schools. There is urgent need for one, at least, in North 
Carolina. 

The constitution of the State, in Section 4, Article IX, re- 
quires the General Assembly, as soon as practicable, to estab- 
lish and maintain, in connection with the university, a depart- 
ment of normal instruction. I respectfully submit that it is 
now practicable to make a beginning in carrying out this pro- 
vision of the constitution.^ There cannot possibly be found in 
the State competent teachers for our public schools. The rec- 
ords of the county examiners show that most of the applicants 
for the post of imparting knowledge to others are themselves 
deficient in the simplest elements of spelling, reading, arith- 
metic, and writing. The university is now in successful opera- 
tion. If the General Assembly should appropriate an amount 
sufficient to establish one professorship for the purpose of in- 
structing in the theory and art of teaching, I am persuaded 
the best results would follow. A school of a similar character 
should be established for the education of colored teachers, the 
want of which is more deeply felt by the black race even than 
the white. In addition to the fact that it is our plain duty to 
make no discrimination in the matter of public education, I 

1 This suggests the criticism which Dr. Ruffner, superintendent 
of public instruction in Virginia, was at about the same time making 
of the Legislature of that State in neglecting to provide facilities for 
training teachers. The constitution of Virginia likewise required the 
establishment of normal schools "as soon as practicable"; but with 
the exception of two normal schools for negroes, supported largely by 
contributions from the Noith, no provision was made for normal 
training in Virginia until after Reconstruction. See the author's 
study, "Reconstruction and Education in Virginia," in the South 
Atlantic Quarterly for January and April, 1916. 



300 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

cannot too strongly urge upon you the importance of the con- 
sideration that whatever of education we may be able to give to 
the children of the State should be imparted under our own 
auspices, and with a thorough North Carolina spirit. Many 
philosophical reasons can be given in support of this proposi- 
tion. I am conscious of few things more dangerous than for a 
State to suffer the education of an entire class of its citizens 
to drift into the hands of strangers, most of whom are not at- 
tached to our institutions, if not positively unfriendly to them. 
There are in the State several very respectable institutions 
for the education of black people, and a small endowment to 
one of them would enable it to attach a normal school suf- 
ficient to answer the present needs of our black citizens. Their 
desire for education is an extremely creditable one, and should 
be gratified as far as our means will permit. In short, I regard 
it as an unmistakable policy to imbue these black people with 
a hearty North Carolina feeling, and make them cease to look 
abroad for the aids to their progress and civilization and the 
protection of their rights as they have been taught to do, and 
to teach them to look to their State instead; to convince them 
that their welfare is indissolubly linked with ours. 

Governor Vance's recommendations were not with- 
out effect, for, as was pointed out in the preceding 
chapter, two important laws were passed by the Legis- 
lature early in 1877. One of these acts established two 
normal schools, one for each race, and the other gave to 
towns of a certain size authority to raise additional 
funds for school purposes. 

The normal school for white teachers opened at the 
state university July 3, 1877, and continued six weeks, 
with an enrollment of 235, representing forty-two 
counties. The average daily attendance was 157. Both 
men and women were enrolled in the school, though the 
law contemplated training only for the men. Instruc- 
tion was given by a faculty of six members, all of whom 
were trained in normal-school methods. Recitations 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 301 

and lectures were given in arithmetic, grammar, analy- 
sis, geography, reading, orthography, phonetics, pen- 
manship, and practical instruction was given in such 
subjects as "school discipline, methods, organization, 
qualifications, legal relation of teacher, parent, and 
child." Daily drills in vocal music were also given, and 
in addition to the regular daily exercises of the school, 
frequent public lectures were delivered by eminent men 
who visited the school for that purpose. There was no 
charge for tuition, and the railroads granted half-fare to 
the students. The Peabody Board appropriated the 
sum of $500 to supplement the state appropriation of 
$2000 to aid the work of the school. Certain book com- 
panies made valuable gifts of books to be used by the 
students. 

The normal school for colored teachers was estab- 
lished at Fayetteville and opened in September, 1877, 
with an enrollment of 40. In a short time the attend- 
ance numbered 58, 20 of whom were women, who were 
admitted on equal terms with the men. The work of the 
school continued eight months and was successful be- 
yond the expectations of the state board. The students 
were given instruction in practically the same subjects 
which the teachers in the other normal pursued and 
were given some training in practice teaching and 
observation. 

Each student teaches one class, at one recitation, daily, un- 
der the eye of the principal, and thus has an opportunity to 
put in practice the instruction obtained in the normal class. 
Theory and practice thus go hand in hand. Evidence of skill 
and faithfulness on the part of the teachers, and of diligence 
and perseverance on the part of the scholars, was exhibited in 
every branch of study pursued durmg the term. 



302 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

This school was also aided by the Peabody Board, and 
the students also agreed to teach in the public schools of 
the State at least three years after leaving the normal 
school. Robert Harris, whom Governor Vance de- 
scribed as "a native colored man of excellent character 
and capacity," was in charge of the institution. 

In 1878 the attendance at the white normal increased 
to 402, of whom 190 were women, and had an average 
attendance of 329. Fifty -nine counties were represented 
in the enrollment. At this session the teachers organ- 
ized a "North Carolina Teachers' Association " and took 
steps toward the formation of county associations 
throughout the counties of the State. Committees were 
also appointed to make a thorough study of the state 
school system and suggest remedies for its weaknesses, 
which were numerous. The colored normal likewise 
prospered, with an enrollment of 114. The work was 
carried on practically as it was the previous year. 

Probably in 1877, but certainly by the summer of 1878, 
normal school work was resumed in Trinity College under 
the direction of its president. Dr. Braxton Craven, and 
continued for several summers, with an annual term 
of four weeks. In 1879 the enrollment was 184, more 
than 100 of whom were teachers in the common schools 
of the State. They received instruction in English gram- 
mar, arithmetic, geography, spelling, reading, writing, 
history, algebra, Latin, school government, and methods 
of teaching, and in " all other matters pertaining to the 
common schools." In that year certificates were given 
to 38 teachers " who were found qualified according to 
law."i 

^ From the unpublished correspondence of Braxton Craven; letter 
of July 5, 1880, to the commissioners of Randolph County. The au- 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 303 

For the year ending September 1, 1877, the total ex- 
penditures for pubHc-school purposes in North Carolina 
were $289,213.32. The school population was 408,296 : 
whites, 267,265, and colored 141,031. Only 128,289 
white children and 73,170 colored children were enrolled. 
The average attendance of the white children was 
62,628, and of the colored children, 41,535. The num- 
ber of public schools for white children was 2885, and 
for colored children, 1550. The number of teachers ex- 
amined and approved during the year was 2382: whites, 
1569, and colored, 813. 

In 1878 the total public funds for educational pur- 
poses in the State were $452,515.53, and the total 
amount expended was $324,287.10. The school popula- 
tion was 422,380: whites, 273,767, and colored, 148,613. 
The enrollment for the year was as follows: whites, 
146,681, with an average attendance of 82,054; colored 
81,411, with an average attendance of 50,499. The 
number of public schools taught during the year was, 
for white children, 3388; for colored children, 1761. 
The average school term for the State was nine weeks, 
and the average monthly salary paid teachers was 

thor is informed by Professor William H. Pegram, of Trinity College, 
who was an instructor in this normal school, that it was among the 
first, if not the first, institution in the State to give instruction in 
kindergarten methods. Dr. Craven brought to the school Mrs. 
Louise Pollock and her daughter. Miss Susie Pollock, of Washington 
City, for the purpose of giving instruction in this work. President 
Battle, of the University of North Carolina, to which institution 
these teachers later went for similar work, said of them, in reporting 
the work of the normal school at Chapel Hill in 1880: "The kin- 
dergarten department was a valuable and attractive feature of the 
Normal School. Mrs. Louise Pollock and Miss Susie Pollock brought 
to the management of this department the best theoretical instruc- 
tion to be had in America and Europe, assisted by long and varied 
experience as practical teachers." (See Leg. Doc. 1881.) 



304 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 



5.18. The number of teachers examined and approved 
during the year was 3722 : whites, 2486, and colored, 1236. 

The public-school fund in 1879 was $473,201.34, and 
in 1880 it had increased to $523,555.22. The disburse- 
ments in 1879 were $326,040.85; in 1880 they were 
$352,882.65. The school population increased from 
426,189 in 1879 to 459,325 the following year; but the 
enrollment decreased from 238,749 to 225,606, and the 
average attendance had fallen from 150,788 to 147,802 
in the same time. The number of public schools taught 
in 1879 was 5503 and only 5312 the following year. The 
average school term increased from nine and one fourth 
weeks to ten weeks. The average monthly salary paid 
teachers was $22.14 in 1879 and only $21.91 in 1880. 
The number of public schoolhouses had increased during 
that time from 3457 to 3766. 

When the Legislature met in January, 1881, the 
opinion was widespread in the State that, in spite of 
certain improvements in the school S3'^stem since 1876, it 
was still very defective and that further improvements 
were necessary. A demand appeared for as thorough 
revision of the school law as was possible at the time. 
"The old system was pronounced to be worse than no 
system; and in truth there was but little system about 
it." This opinion of Superintendent Scarborough was 
shared by Governor Thomas J. Jarvis, who, addressing 
the Legislature, said : — 

Education 1 regard as the great interest of the State, an in- 
terest too great to be disposed of by a few paragraphs in a 
message. But while I may avail myself of another occasion to 
address you on this subject, I cannot now dismiss it without 
pleading for more money for the children. In the discussions 
I have seen in the papers, the system has been mainly the topic. 
Very Uttle has been said about the money to carry on the 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 305 

system. While one system may be better than another, the most 
perfect is not worth the paper on which it is written without 
money to build schoolhouses and pay teachers. Money is, and 
must be, the heart and life of every system. While I hope to 
see you make the system as perfect as possible, I beg that you 
will not forget to provide the money. This can be done only 
by taxation. Will you impose it.'' I think the people will ap- 
prove it. The tax for schools is now only eight and a third cents 
on a hundred dollars' worth of property, and twenty -five cents 
on the poll. Three times that on each would not be burden- 
some but wise legislation. The salary of the .superintendent 
of public instruction should be largely increased, and I trust yoli 
will do this before the time comes for the gentleman ^ elected 
to that position to qualify. Instead of degrading this very im- 
portant office into a mere clerkship, as has been the case, it 
should be dignified and elevated to a rank so high that it will 
command at all times the best talent of the State. 

The governor commended the work of the normal 
schools and recommended that the annual appropriation 
for their maintenance be continued. He also urged 
proper attention to the university, which was "resuming 
her wonted place of usefulness and renown." 

^ Another evidence of a demand for improved educa- 
tional conditions appeared in a memorial which the 
State Teachers' Association, at its meeting in July, 1880, 
adopted and forwarded to the Legislature. The memo- 
rial requested that body to increase the school tax for 
the entire State to an amount suflScient to maintain a 
school four months each year in every district in the 
State and to give local districts authority to raise addi- 
tional taxes for school purposes. This authority had 
already been given to several towns of the State. "It 
is the very germ of a good system, and this right belongs 
to every school district." The memorial also asked the 
Legislature to authorize the county boards of education 
^ John C. Scarborough. 



306 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

to appropriate money for county institutes for training 
teachers; to authorize only two grades of teachers' cer- 
tificates; to provide for the introduction of industrial 
subjects into the public schools; to require local school 
officials to erect a suitable house in each school district; 
to provide for the selection of a better equipped and 
more competent body of county examiners; and to pre- 
scribe a series of books to be used in the schools. 

The recommendations of the state superintendent at 
the same time were also significant. First of all he urged 
increased facilities for training teachers by continuing 
the annual appropriations to the two normal schools 
already in operation, and by the establishment of other 
similar schools, for both races, and also by making 
provision for county teachers' institutes. He also re- 
commended the creation of the office of county super- 
intendent, to take the place of the county examiner; to 
authorize the appointment of the district school com- 
mittees by the county boards of education; and to 
increase the school revenues to a property tax of twenty- 
five cents on the hundred dollars' valuation and a capi- 
tation tax of seventy-five cents. The superintendent 
believed this amount to be necessary to meet the consti- 
tutional requirements. "Our school system is far better 
than the support it receives in money. Herein lies its 
chief defect." He also recommended that legislative 
authority be given for local taxation; that provision be 
made for improving the swamp lands which were the 
property of the school fund; that measures be taken 
looking to securing uniformity in textbooks; that the 
school laws be codified; and that provision be made for 
defraying the traveling expenses of the superintendent. 
At this time his salary was only $1500 a year and no 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 307 

appropriations for traveling expenses or office assist- 
ance were allowed. 

The year 1881 marked another forward step in public 
education in North Carolina. The old school system 
had been in operation since 1872, with a few slight im- 
provements made in 1877. But the schools were poor 
and the school law defective. 

The school taxes were collected and spent and no adequate 
return of benefits was made. The schoolhouses were in a state 
of decay and ruin. The incompetency of the public-school 
teachers, with few exceptions, was proverbial. The system was 
a failure and a farce, and the people paid taxes unwillingly for 
its support. 

This was the superintendent's comment on conditions 
in 1881, when the Legislature met. That body knew the 
conditions, which were brought to its attention through 
the messages of the governor, the reports of the state 
superintendent, and the press of the State; and acting 
on the knowledge thus gained, it revised and greatly 
improved the school laws. 

The principal legislative improvements made that 
year were an increase of taxes for school support, pro- 
visions for county superintendents, for county teachers' 
institutes, and for four additional normal schools for each 
race. The curriculum of the public schools was also pre- 
scribed and a standard of examination for public-school 
teachers fixed for the guidance of the new county officers. 

Property taxes for school support were increased from 
eight and one third to twelve and one half cents on the 
hundred dollars' valuation, and the capitation taxes 
were raised from twenty-five to thirty-seven and one 
half cents. Though this was a substantial increase, it 
was by no means sufficient to maintain schools for the 



308 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

term required by the constitution. Both the governor 
and the superintendent continued to urge more Hberal 
support of pubUc schools. Governor Jarvis said in 
1883: — 

The system may be perfect, the superintendent able, the 
teachers ready, and the people anxious, but unless the General 
Assembly supplies the money, it will all be worthless. ... It 
is idle to talk of educating 490,000 children on $550,000 a year! 
The best system of common schools ever devised would be a 
failure if dependent upon so small an amount of money. So 
it need not be a matter of wonder that our system has not 
met public expectation, and that you hear unfavorable com- 
ment upon it. 

He pointed out that under the constitution it was 
impossible to raise by taxation enough money to make 
the school system what it should be. And both he and 
the superintendent urged an amendment by which the 
constitutional limitation of taxation should not apply to 
taxes levied for school support. On account of the low 
valuation of property adopted throughout the State 
nearly all the taxes that could be levied were required 
to support the county and state governments, and only 
a small amount was left for schools. This lack of funds 
proved a persistent educational problem in the State 
for many years. 

This improvement in provision for school support, 
though insufficient, was due in no small measure to the 
efforts of Governor Jarvis. With him public education 
was always a subject of supremest importance, and his 
example of fidelity and labor for its promotion remains 
as a sacred heritage to the people of the State to-day. 
He was foremost in the movement to rebuild and re- 
store the fortunes of the State at the close of the war and 
of Reconstruction. During the six years that he filled 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 309 

the executive office of the State, ^ and indeed through- 
out the remainder of his Hfe, the "Grand Old Man," 
as he was affectionately referred to in his later years, 
worked for "North Carolina — the development of her 
resources and the education of her children," and with 
a stimulating earnestness and a profound faith which 
everywhere lent hope and encouragement. In his in- 
augural address, when he assumed the duties of gov- 
ernor, he declared this to be his purpose, and his mess- 
ages and numerous public utterances were filled with 
the same promise. Addressing the Legislature in Jan- 
uary, 1883, he said: — 

I have tried to keep that promise. I have visited the schools 
in the different sections of the State, from the university to the 
common schools, and have addressed teachers, pupils, and peo- 
ple. If North Carolina does not occupy a higher position in 
the scale of education in the next census report than she does 
in the last, it shall be no fault of mine. But after all, the chief 
responsibility is with the General Assembly.^ 

In the last ten years of his life Governor Jarvis de- 
voted his efforts to the establishment and maintenance 
of the East Carolina Teachers' Training School, which 
he fathered with a beautiful affection and with an 
enthusiastic pride which was actually contagious. It 
began and continued the primary object of his thought 
and labor and soon became the concrete realization of 
unselfish devotion to the noble purpose announced in 
his address when he was inaugurated as governor many 
years before. That purpose remained with him through- 

^ As lieutenant-governor he succeeded Governor Vance in March, 
1879, when the latter was elected to the United States Senate. And in 
November, 1880, Governor Jarvis was elected for a term of four years, 
beginning January 1, 1881. 

* Leg. Doc, no. 1, Session of 1883, p. 31. 



310 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

out life. An excerpt from his will is a solemn admonition 
to the people he loved so jealously: 

Intelligence and virtue mark the standing of any people in 
the State and Nation, and I would therefore urge the people 
to press the education of their children far beyond anything 
heretofore attempted.^ 

The provision for county superintendents was also 
a decided improvement which the Legislature of 1881 
made. They were to be elected by a joint meeting of the 
county boards of education and the county boards of 
magistrates, for a term of two years. The compensation 
of the superintendent was to be three dollars a day "for 
all days necessarily engaged in the discharge of the 
duties of his position"; but his salary could not exceed 
five per cent of the apportionment of the county school 
fund. 2 The need for more central authority in the 
county, which this office now furnished, may be seen 
from the following description which the superintendent 
declared was 

a true picture, in the main, of hundreds of cases in the State, all 
because there was no one with a wise head charged with the 
special duty of visiting the people, advising conservative 
measures and unity of action in the interest of the schools: 

About one half of the districts were without houses and 
with no money to build them. This resulted in continued 
controversy as to where the school should be taught. A, B, 
and C of any given district had an unoccupied house that 
would do. Each urged upon the committee the importance 

' Connor, "Thomas Jordan Jarvis and the Rebuilding of North 
Carolina," in Publications of the North Carolina Historical Commis- 
sion, Bulletin no. 20. 

^ In 1883 the Legislature reduced the compensation of the county 
superintendents and somewhat restricted their duties. Superintendent 
Scarborough regarded the action as unfortunate, and noticed a de- 
crease in the number of institutes held and the number of teachers 
attending. 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 811 

of having the school taught in his house. The committee was 
forced to choose between them and selected the house of A; 
it was the best they could do in their judgment. B and C ob- 
jected, became enemies of the school, threw obstacles in the 
way of the teacher, advised their next neighbors against send- 
ing to the school, circulated petitions for the division of the 
district, and presented them to the next meeting of the county 
board of education and demanded immediate action. Said 
board, recognizing the right of petition, ordered the divi- 
sion demanded, and the result was that the district, already 
too small, was divided into two, neither one of which had 
funds enough to continue a school for a longer term than four 
weeks with a very ordinary teacher. 

The educational administration of the counties tended 
to improve after the provision was made for county su- 
perintendents. Many of the counties were redistricted, 
the needs of the schools became more vitally felt, and 
the teachers began to show some improvement under 
the guidance of new officers. This improvement was 
made possible by the same law which provided for 
teachers' institutes in the various counties. Although 
this provision was permissive, more than 120 institutes 
were held in 58 counties in 1881 and 1882, in which 
2260 white and 650 colored teachers were instructed. 
Teachers' associations were formed in many counties 
and became means of educational improvement, and 
educational journals were beginning to be read also. 
Perhaps the most noticeable educational improvement, 
due to the work of the county superintendents, was the 
increase in expenditures for building schoolhouses. In 
1880 the total amount spent for buildings and supplies 
was less than $19,000; in 1882 it was nearly $90,000. 
Although the results in some counties were not so fa- 
vorable as in others, the outlook for the future appeared 
more hopeful than hitherto. 



312 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Another distinctly advance step was taken by the 
same Legislature when eight additional normal schools 
were established in 1881, four for white teachers and a 
like number for colored teachers. Those for the white 
race were established at Elizabeth City, Wilson, Newton 
and Franklin, and those for the colored teachers at 
Newbern, Plymouth, Franklinton, and Salisbury. The 
Legislature appropriated $500, and the Peabody Board 
nearly half that amount, for the maintenance of each 
school. The sessions of the white schools continued for 
from four to six weeks, and those of the colored schools 
for as long terms as the funds appropriated would pro- 
vide, usually from four to eight months. This was 
allowed because the colored teachers needed, more 
largely than the white teachers, more instruction in the 
subject-matter than in methods of teaching. The en- 
rollment in the white schools the first year was 472; in 
the colored schools it was 295. Attendance on these 
schools continued to increase each year. The normal 
schools at the university and at Fayetteville, established 
in 1877, were also in a thrifty condition and well 
attended. In 1882 fully 950 white teachers and 370 
colored teachers received instruction in the normal 
schools of the State. 

Other significant provisions of the new law allowed 
the state superintendent $500 for traveling expenses 
and $600 for clerk hire; authorized the state treasurer 
to restore to the school fund, from the general fund, the 
money hitherto expended for the support of normal 
schools, and defined the grades of teachers' certificates. 
Provision was made for first, second, and third grade 
certificates, valid for only one year and in the county 
where issued. Teachers of the third grade could not 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 313 

receive a salary of more than $15 a month, those of the 
second grade not more than $25 a month, and those of 
the first grade " such sum as may be determined by the 
committee, subject to the approval of the county board 
of education." The law required the teachers to attend 
institutes, but the requirement was not always met. 
With such improvements in the laws opportunities for 
corresponding improvements in the school system were 
now afforded. Considerable impetus was thus given to 
education, and the work of the Legislature was far- 
reaching in its good effects. 

One sign of educational growth appeared in the estab- 
lishment of free public graded schools, which were gen- 
erally meeting reasonable public expectation both in 
their management and in the work which they were 
doing. The first of these schools was established in 
Greensboro in 1875, and two years later one was estab- 
lished in Raleigh. Others were established as follows: 
Salisbury, 1880; Goldsboro, 1881; Durham, Charlotte, 
and Wilmington, 1882; and Winston, 1885. These 
schools were established by local tax levy or by support 
from the town government, and in most cases they 
received aid from the Peabody Board also. 

For purposes of comparison the following statistics 
may be noted for 1884 : ^ 

Total public school funds $765,032 . 16 

Total disbursements 535,205 .03 

Total school population: 

White 314,293 

Colored 189,988 

* Reports from only ninety-two counties. There were ninety-six 
counties in the State at this time. 



314 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Total enrollment: 

White 167,059 

Colored 111,239 

Average attendance: 

White 104,291 

Colored 65,403 

Public Schools taught: 

White 3,845 

Colored 2,175 

Average school terms (in weeks) : 

White Ill 

Colored llf 

Average monthly salaries of teachers: 

White $24.16 

Colored 22.06 

Teachers examined and approved during the year: 
White men — 

First grade 1,030 

Second grade 1,059 

Third grade 207 

White Women — 

First Grade 518 

Second Grade 530 

Third Grade 125 

Total 3,469 

Colored men — 

First grade 315 

Second grade 600 

Third grade 585 

Colored women — 

First grade 109 

Second grade 327 

Third grade 295 

Total 2,231 

Grand Total 5,700 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 315 

Between 1885 and 1900 progress in education was 
decidedly slower than was promised by the legislative 
enlargement of the school work of the State in 1881. 
School funds, which had always been insufficient, in- 
creased but slowly and school terms were lengthened 
by only a few days. In 1885 the total expenditures for 
public schools was about $650,000, and in 1900 only 
$950,000, though the school population had increased 
from 530,127 in 1885 to 659,629 in 1900. In 1885 fifty- 
two per cent of the school population was enrolled; 
fifteen years later only fifty-eight per cent was enrolled. 
The school term had increased from about sixty days in 
1885 to seventy days in 1900. Teachers' salaries showed 
no improvement. In 1885 the average monthly salary 
paid white teachers was about $25, and negro teachers 
received about $23. In 1900 the salaries of white teach- 
ers was practically the same as in 1885 and negro 
teachers received slightly less than in that year. Many 
of the teachers were reported poorly prepared, in spite 
of generous legislative provisions for normal schools and 
county teachers' institutes. In 1888 the superintendent 
said: "Many of our teachers are themselves schoolboys 
and schoolgirls, without sufficient knowledge in books, 
and especially without sufficient training in school gov- 
ernment and management." In the same year a large 
number of the schoolhouses of the State were reported 
"unfit for use, being uncomfortable and unsafe to the 
health of the children." 

The needs of the schools during these years were 
numerous. More money for longer school terms, better 
salaries, and improved school equipment was perhaps the 
most urgent need. From 1872 to 1881 the property tax 
for school support had been eight and one third cents 



316 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

on the hundred dollars' valuation, and the capitation 
tax thirty-seven and one half cents. In 1891 these taxes 
were raised to fifteen cents and forty-five cents, re- 
spectively. The regular ad-valorem taxes provided by 
the revenue law for school support showed a very slight 
increase during these years. But the superintendent in 
1890 declared it "simply idle to expect satisfactory 
schools with an average annual term of sixty days, and 
with an expenditure of money amounting to . . . only one 
dollar and twenty-two cents on each of the school popu- 
lation." The average school term in the South at that 
time was 101 days, and in the United States it was 
135 days. The revenue available was insufficient to 
maintain schools for the term required by the constitu- 
tion, and decisions of the supreme court made it difficult 
to secure more money for educational purposes. 

We saw in Chapter XII that a decision of the 
supreme court in 1870 had a retarding influence on 
education in the State, by holding that schools were not 
a necessary expense. The defective character of the 
constitution and of the school laws of 1868 and 1869 
was also noted; they contained defects which the 
Reform Legislature of 1871 failed to correct. Under the 
constitution ^ it was the duty of the county commission- 
ers to levy a tax sufficient to maintain the schools for 
four months in each year, but in discharging this duty 
they were not allowed to disregard the limitation imposed 
by another section of the constitution as to the amount 
of tax to be levied. However, by the act of 1885,^ the 
commissioners were allowed to exceed this limit. 

In 1885, obeying the constitution and the statute, the 
commissioners of Sampson County levied a special tax 

* Art. IX, sec. 3. * Laws of 1S85, chap. I74i, sec. 23. 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 317 

for supporting a four months' school. The commission- 
ers were enjoined, and at the October, 1885 term of the 
superior court of the county there was a judgment for 
the plaintiffs, the court ruling that the tax levied under 
the act of 1885 overstepped the limits of the taxing 
power conferred and was not warranted by the consti- 
tution, and could not, therefore, be enforced. The 
defendants appealed and the supreme court ajBSrmed 
the decision of the lower court, holding that the act of 
1885 was unconstitutional and did not come within the 
provisions of the constitution which authorized a spe- 
cial tax for a special purpose with the approval of the 
General Assembly.^ 

Before 1885 the general attitude on the subject of 
local taxation for educational purposes had been more 
or less indifferent, though the influence of appropria- 
tions from the Peabody Board was rapidly improving 
that sentiment in many sections. The result was a slow 
but gradual increase in the establishment of graded 
schools by local taxation. That sentiment was spread- 
ing and proving of wholesome influence when the 
supreme court again appeared as an obstacle to educa- 
tional progress by holding that the constitutional 
limitation of taxation could not be exceeded except for 
necessary expenses, and a four months' school term was 
not considered a necessary expense. However, the same 
court held that taxes for public streets, lights, and water 
works were necessary expenses for which a special tax 
could be levied in excess of the constitutional limitation. 
Therefore, the decision in the case cited above made it 
impossible to keep schools open for more than two or 

^ Barksdale et cU. vs. Commissioners of Sampson County, 93 N.C. 

472. 



318 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

three months in the year. Several counties had already 
levied special taxes in order to maintain schools for the 
term required by the constitution, but they were now 
forced to abandon this plan of school support, and the 
development of local tax sentiment was thus retarded.^ 
Other decisions of the supreme court had an unwhole- 
some effect during these years. By act of March 11, 
1883, provision had been made for local assessment for 
school purposes.^ Acting under the provisions of this 
act the commissioners of Gaston County ordered an 
election in one of the school districts for white children 
on the question of an additional tax of twenty cents on 
the property of white owners and an additional tax of 
sixty cents upon every taxable white poll^ for furnishing 
increased public-school advantages to the white children 
of the district. Only white electors were allowed to vote. 
The election was carried, and officers proceeded to 
collect the assessment. Action was instituted per- 
petually to enjoin the commissioners from levying and 
collecting the taxes, but the restraining order was 
refused and the plaintiffs appealed. The supreme court 
found error and reversed the decision, holding the act 
of 1883 unconstitutional both because it did not pro- 
vide for uniform and equal taxation on all property and 
because it made a race discrimination as to the applica- 
tion of the funds. The constitution required all taxes 
for whatever purposes to be uniform and allowed no 
discrimination in favor of any class, person, or interest, 
but required all property to be taxed equally and by 
uniform rule. Therefore, the court argued, a law which 

^ The decision of the court in 1885 held until 1907, when it was 
reversed. See 145 N.C. 170. 
2 Laws of 1883, chap. 148. 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 319 

permitted a tax on the property and polls of one color 
to be applied exclusively to the education of children of 
that color was unconstitutional. The law was also con- 
sidered discriminative and in conflict with the constitu- 
tion which said: "There shall be no discrimination in 
favor of or to the prejudice of either race." However, 
Justice Merrimon, who did not concur in so much of the 
opinion of the court as declared the law of 1883 in- 
operative and unconstitutional, held that statute to 
authorize a local tax and not to prescribe a public tax 
within the meaning of the constitution. 

In still another case the supreme court held that 
legislation which directed the tax raised from the polls 
and property of white persons to be devoted to sustain- 
ing schools for the children of the white persons, and 
that raised from the polls and property of colored per- 
sons to be used for supporting their schools, was uncon- 
stitutional. There were several graded schools in the 
State which were affected by this decision, because by 
provisions of the special acts under which they oper- 
ated money derived by taxation from white persons was 
applied exclusively to white schools and that from 
colored persons to colored schools. Some of these schools 
were forced to discontinue, or to depend for support 
on private donations, while awaiting favorable legisla- 
tive relief.^ 

More active and competent county supervision was also 
a serious need of the school system. Various changes 
were made in the law providing for county superintend- 
ents after its original enactment in 1881, but improve- 
ment in this part of the school system was slow. In 
1883 the duties of the office were restricted and its pos- 
» Rigsbee vs. the Town of Durham, 94 N.C. 800. 



320 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

sibilities somewhat crippled. In 1895 the office was 
aboHshed and its duties placed in the hands of the 
clerk of the board of county commissioners. The same 
act ^ abolished the county board of education and the 
duties of that body were turned over to the county 
commissioners. In the same year provision was made 
for county examiners, but two years later that office 
was abolished and provision made for a county board of 
education and a county supervisor of schools with duties 
practically the same as those previously prescribed for 
county superintendents. Two years later the Legisla- 
ture provided for the election of a county superintend- 
ent, who was required to be "a practical teacher" and 
to have had at the time of election at least two years' 
experience in teaching or in public-school work. He was 
to be paid a iper diem for the number of days actually 
at work, provided the number did not exceed in any 
year the average length of the school term plus fifty 
per cent thereof. The average salary of the ninety-six 
county superintendents in 1890 was only $175, and in 
some counties it was only $50 or $60. As late as 1899 
Wake County was paying its superintendent only 
$128, after deducting the small fees collected for pri- 
vate examinations. The counties of Durham, Mecklen- 
burg, and Buncombe were paying slightly more than 
this, however. No man capable of becoming an effi- 
cient superintendent could afford to give much of his 
time for the small compensation which he received and 
from which he was forced to pay his expenses. Most 
of the superintendents had other occupations, and 
their educational labors consisted mainly of holding 
examinations for teachers and an occasional teachers' 
1 Laws of 1895, chap. 439. 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 321 

institute. Their work as county superintendents was, 
until recent years, too often a secondary matter. In 
some cases the county board of education would not 
allow the superintendents to visit the schools because 
of the expense of such service. 

Provision for normal instruction was gradually en- 
larging, though many of the teachers continued poorly 
prepared and inefficient. In addition to the normal 
schools established in 1877, four additional schools for 
each race were established by act of 1881. From that 
year until 1885 the sum of $4000 was annually appro- 
priated to train the teachers of each race. In 1885 the 
normal school established at Chapel Hill in 1877 was dis- 
continued and the appropriation used for similar work 
in schools established at Asheville, Boone, Washing- 
ton, and Winston; but the sum of $4000 continued to 
be appropriated annually for the normal instruction of 
white teachers until 1889.^ 

About this time two young teachers, Charles D. Mc- 
Iver and Edwin A. Alderman, names which were soon 
to become closely identified with progressive educa- 
tional policies, not only in their own State but in the 
entire South, began to attract wide attention by their 
interest and zeal in behalf of universal education. They 
appeared before the Legislature and pleaded for more 
efficient educational facilities for the youth of the State. 
Their earnestness attracted legislative attention. The 
numerous normal schools for white teachers were 
abolished ^ and Mclver and Alderman were selected as 

* In 1893 the Legislature appropriated $1500 to establish a nor- 
mal department in connection with the Cullowhee High School, in 
Jackson County, and this or greater aid has been annually con- 
tinued. 

» Laws of 1889, chap. 200. 



322 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

state institute conductors, to canvass the State, hold 
educational meetings, conduct teachers' institutes, and 
enlist the interest of the public on the subject of more 
and better education for all the children of both races. 
For two years they went up and down the State teach- 
ing teachers, organizing educational associations, hold- 
ing mass meetings, and preaching the gospel of universal 
education, free and open alike to all classes. The in- 
fluence of this work literally converted the Farmers' 
Alliance, which at that time was recognized as an organ- 
ization of power and influence in the State. The Legis- 
lature of 1891 was in large measure controlled by this 
organization and showed some liberality toward public 
education. At this session the State Normal and Indus- 
trial College for the training of white teachers was es- 
tablished and the Agricultural and Mechanical College 
for negroes was also created. 

Meantime, however, it appeared impossible to hold 
an annual institute in every county in the State, on the 
fund appropriated by the Legislature, and the Peabody 
Board, through its efficient agent. Dr. J. L. M. Curry, 
appropriated funds sufficient to employ several other 
institute conductors for the summer months. From 
July, 1889, to October, 1890, more than 135 institutes 
were held in the State, attended by 5775 teachers. In 
addition to these, 7 institutes for white and 21 for 
colored teachers were held under an act of 1881 which 
gave permission for county institutes. 

Facilities for the normal instruction of the negro 
teachers of the State were also increasing, and from 
1887 to 1895 the annual appropriations for that race 
were $8500. From 1895 to 1897 the appropriations for 
the same purpose were $10,500 annually. In 1897 the 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 323 

sum of $14,500 was appropriated for the professional 
preparation of the negro teachers of the State, and 
this continued to be appropriated annually ^for several 
years. 

During these years there was a serious, steady growth 
of sentiment in favor of public education, and local 
taxation for schools of both races was gradually develop- 
ing. By 1891 graded schools had been established in 
sixteen towns in the State and the city-school idea was 
growing in popularity. In 1887 Reidsville and Asheville 
voted local tax and established graded systems, and in 
1891 similar schools were estabhshed in Concord, States- 
ville, Shelby, Tarboro, Wilson, and Murphy.^ 

This gradual development of wholesome educational 
sentiment was threatened with serious arrest in 1893, 
however. The financial stringency of that year forced 
the Farmers' Alliance into politics and created three 
political parties of unequal strength. In 1894 the negro 
held the balance of power and the Populists and Re- 
publicans, by fusing their interests, succeeded in controll- 
ing the Legislature. Two years later, by the same meth- 
ods and a negro vote more than 120,000 strong, they got 
complete control of the state government as well as of 
many counties. The Legislature of 1895 resembled the 
lawmaking bodies of Reconstruction days. 

By " an act to restore to the people of North Carolina 
local self-government," the system of county govern- 

^ High Point and Washington established graded schools in 1897, 
and two years later similar schools were established in Newbern, 
Waynesville, Selma, Kinston, Albemarle, Mount Airy, Gastonia, 
Marion, and Cherryville. By 1899 graded schools had been estab- 
lished in twenty-seven towns in North Carolina, and were being 
supported largely by local taxation or by aid from the town govern- 
ments. 



324 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

ment in use in the State at that time was completely over- 
turned. 

Whether so intended or not, the new system turned over to 
negro rule the chief city of the State, several important towns, 
and many of the eastern counties. Then the country saw re- 
peated the scenes which have made the memory of Recon- 
struction a nightmare to the people of the South. Negro poU- 
ticians, often illiterate, always ignorant, generally corrupt, 
presided over the inferior courts, dominated county school 
boards and district school committees, and served as county 
commissioners and city councilmen. They were found on the 
police force of the State's chief city, they were made city attor- 
neys, and they were numbered among county coroners, deputy 
sheriffs, and registers of deeds. Lawlessness, violence, and cor- 
ruption followed. In some of the counties the situation became 
unbearable, while in such towns as Wilmington, Newbern, and 
Greenville neither life nor property nor woman's honor was 
secure.^ 

More firearms were sold in the State in a year or two 
than had been sold for twenty years preceding. Rumors 
of race riots inflamed the passions of the people, prop- 
erty was burned, and men went armed day and night. 
The serious situation culminated in the disastrous riots 
of Wilmington in 1898, when the mayor and negro offi- 
cers were driven from the city and the white men took 
possession by force. These alarming conditions threat- 
ened destruction to the school system and forced the 
thoughtful people of the State to seek a safe solution 
for one of the most difficult problems in its educational 
history. Until now the principle of special local taxa- 
tion was slowly but gradually growing in public favor, 
but the bitter political experiences of those years caused 
a dangerous reaction, and educational sentiment cooled. 

* Connor and Poe, The Life and Speeches oj Charles B. Aycock, 
chap. V. 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 325 

In one instance the local tax was voted out and the vic- 
tory celebrated with bonfires and bands. 

Notwithstanding the unfavorable conditions in the 
State the Legislature of 1897 passed one of the most 
advanced educational laws yet enacted, but it was 
short-lived and proved ineffective. The act ^ was in- 
tended to encourage local taxation for public schools, 
and provided for an election to be held on the question 
in every school district. In every district which failed 
to vote the tax in 1897 the county commissioners were 
required to order an election every two years until the 
tax was properly voted. The law further provided that 
every district voting the special tax should receive from 
the state board of education, annually for three years, a 
sum equal to the special school tax collected in the district 
each year, provided, however, that no district should 
receive from the state board more than $500 a year. 

The elections were held in August, 1897, at a cost of 
more than $12,000, and eleven townships voted for the 
tax and raised the sum of $2260.07, which was duplicated 
by the State. The law also provided that, in case an 
amount should be raised by voluntary subscription or 
donation, an equal amount thus raised should be dupli- 
cated by the state board, and sixty-three communities 
raised in this manner $8596.63, which was likewise du- 
plicated. These results were far from satisfactory and 
were indicative of gross indifference, and the act was 
repealed by the Legislature of 1899. The same Legis- 
lature, however, appropriated $100,000 to be appor- 
tioned to the counties on the basis of their school popu- 
lation — legislative liberality which gave renewed hope 
and encouragement to the friends of education. ^ 

^ Laws of 1897, chap. 421. * Laws of 1899, chap. 637. 



326 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

The trying days just described brought into promi- 
nence Charles B. Ay cock, a brilliant young lawyer of 
Goldsboro, who caught the public ear at a time when 
real educational leadership was sorely needed, and he 
became the spokesman of North Carolina. He advo- 
cated a constitutional amendment which would deprive 
the negro of suffrage until by education and training 
he could be fitted for intelligent citizenship. Immedi- 
ately the advocates of better educational facilities ral- 
lied to his support because he pleaded so earnestly for 
universal education for all classes and races. The entire 
State responded, and in 1900 Ay cock was nominated 
for governor by acclamation on a platform which he had 
made popular by his earnestness and eloquence two 
years before. Sixty-six of the ninety-seven counties in 
the State gave majorities for the amendment to the 
constitution, which eliminated the ignorant negro from 
politics, and Aycock was elected governor by the larg- 
est majority ever given a man for that office in North 
Carolina. This bitterest political contest which the 
State had ever witnessed was momentous for popular 
education. 

The two races had been arrayed in fearful antagonism and 
the elemental passions of both had been deeply stirred. The 
fires of race prejudice and bitterness still smouldered in the 
hearts of thousands and but the slightest breath was necessary 
to fan them into a conflagration of fearful consequences. It 
was a situation which required a leader with a cool head, a clear 
vision, and a judicious temperament. He must have an abun- 
dance of patience, wisdom, and charity. He must be a cour- 
ageous man. It was no time for a time-server. He who would 
allay the apprehensions of the negroes and check the passions 
of the whites must be a statesman.^ 

* Connor and Poe, op. cit., p. 90. 



ATTEMPTS AT READJUSTMENT 327 

Happily for the cause of the public schools North 
Carolina now had such a leader in its new governor. 
There was, indeed, a great sociological problem yet to 
be solved, but faith, courage, and untiring industry 
promised success in its solution. A new and more hope- 
ful day began to dawn for a State and a citizenship 
which had too long known the burden of a bitter wrong. 
The educational uplift of all classes of both races, and 
the public schools soon came to be regarded too sacred 
for any party to touch with unholy hands. This condi- 
tion was made possible through the wise statesmanship 
of North Carolina's "educational governor." 

REFERENCES 

Journals of the House and Senate; Public Laws of North 
Carolina; /Jeporf* of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
1876-1900; Boyd, "Some Phases of Educational History in 
the South since 1865," in Studies in Southern History and 
Politics; Proceedings of the Peabody Board Trustees; Report 
of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1904, vol. i ; 
Connor, " Thomas Jordan Jar vis and the Rebuilding of North 
Carolina," in Publications of the North Carolina Historical 
Commission, Bulletin no. 20; Connor and Poe, The Life and 
Speeches of Charles B. Ay cock. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What political changes took place in the United States 
m 1876? 

2. How did those changes affect educational conditions in 
the South? 

3. What legislative changes affecting education were made 
about this time? 

4. Why was the educational problem in the South such a 
difficult one after the war? 

5. How did educational interest express itself after 1877? 



328 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

6. Account for tlie slow educational progress in North 
Carolina between 1877 and 1900. What improvements 
were made during these years? 

7. Why were facilities for normal instruction not p^o^•ided 
before 1877? How does the experience of North Carolina 
in this respect compare with the experience of other 
Southern States? 

8. What were the educational services of Thomas J. Jarvis? 

9. Name the superintendents of public instruction in North 
Carolina since 1868 and discuss their educational services. 

10. Account for the conditions between 1895 and 1900. What 
were some of the needs of the schools during these years? 

11. How did the interpretations and decisions of the courts 
affect education in the State before 1900? 

12. What was the actual condition of public education in 
your county in 1900? 

13. What is the history of city or town high schools in your 
county? 



CHAPTER XV 

AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL (1900-1910) 

On a hundred platforms, to half the voters of the State, in 
the late campaign, I pledged the State, its strength, its heart, 
its wealth, to universal education. I promised the ilUterate 
poor man, bound to a life of toil and struggle and poverty, 
that life should be brighter for his boy and girl than it had been 
for him and the partner of his sorrows and joys. I pledged 
the wealth of the State to the education of his children. Men 
of wealth, representatives of great corporations, applauded 
eagerly my declaration. I then realized that the strong desire 
which dominated me for the uplifting of the whole people 
moved not only my heart, but was likewise the hope and aspi- 
ration of those upon whom Fortune had smiled. . . . We are 
prospering as never before — our wealth increases, our indus- 
tries multiply, our commerce extends, and among the owners 
of this wealth, this multiplying industry, this extending com- 
merce, I have found no man who is unwilling to make the 
State stronger and better by liberal aid to the cause of educa- 
tion. Gentlemen of the Legislature, you will not have aught 
to fear when you make ample provision for the education of the 
whole people. . . . For my part I declare to you that it shall be 
my constant aim and eflFort, during the four years that I shall 
endeavor to serve the people of this State, to redeem this most 
solemn of all our pledges. 

Thus spoke Charles B. Ay cock when he was inaugu- 
rated governor of North Carolina in January, 1901. The 
platforms of all the political parties had declared in 
favor of a liberal policy toward popular education, and 
the platform of the Democratic Party in 1900 said: — 

We heartily commend the action of the General Assembly 
of 1899 for appropriating one hundred thousand dollars for 
the benefit of the public schools of the State, and pledge our- 



330 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

selves to increase the school fund, so as to make at least a four 
months' term in every year in every school district in the State. 

In the campaign conducted throughout the State 
with so much earnestness that platform was made the 
basis of all promises made to the people. And through 
the leadership of Aycock those promises were destined 
soon to be completely redeemed. 

Until this time, as we have seen, there was much in- 
difference on the subject of public education : — 

Only thirty districts in the State, all urban, considered 
education of sufficient importance to levy a local tax for the 
support of schools. The average salary paid to county super- 
intendents annually was less than one dollar a day, to public- 
school teachers, $91.25 for the term. This meant, of course, 
that the office of county superintendent was either a " politi- 
cal job," usually given to some struggling young attorney for 
local party service, or a public charity used to help support 
the growing family of some needy but deserving preacher; and, 
further, that there were no professional teachers in the public 
schools. Practically no interest was manifested in the building 
or equipment of schoolhouses. The cliildren of more than 
950 public school districts were altogether without school- 
houses, while those in 1132 districts sat on rough pine boards 
in log houses chinked with clay. Perhaps under all these cir- 
cumstances it was well enough that the schools were kept 
open only seventy-three days in the year, and that less than 
one third of the children of school age attended them, . . . To 
complicate a situation already sufficiently difficult, the race 
issue injected its poison into the very vitals of the problem.^ 

Soon after taking the oath of office Governor Aycock 
and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Thomas 
F. Toon began a canvass of the entire State in behalf 
of its educational interests. It was known that if the 
people were to be convinced of the necessity for better 

^ Connor and Poe, The Life and Speeches of Charles B. Aycock, 
pp. 114, 115. 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL 831 

educational facilities, the question must be discussed 
with them. But there were serious obstacles in the way 
of a complete canvass of the State. North Carolina was 
large, had no centers of population, and eighty per cent 
of its people were engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
were therefore widely scattered. Only a small part of the 
people could be reached except through a general cam- 
paign for which there were then no resources at hand. 
This problem was soon solved, however, through the 
liberality of the Southern Education Board, an organi- 
zation composed of educational statesmen and phi- 
lanthropists for the promotion of education in the 
Southern States. This organization offered $4000 an- 
nually for financing such an educational campaign as 
Aycock and the other friends of education believed to 
be necessary to bring relief to the poor school conditions 
of the State. 

At the suggestion of Dr. Charles D. Mclver, chair- 
man of the campaign committee of the Southern Educa- 
tion Board, a convention was called to meet in Raleigh 
February 13, 1902. Invitations were sent to forty-three 
educational workers in the State, representing all the 
institutions of higher education, the normal schools, 
and county and city-school systems. Governor Aycock 
presided over the conference, which met in his office for 
the purpose of organizing a thoroughgoing educational 
campaign and of uniting all the educational forces of the 
State. 

There was but one man in the State who could have brought 
together all these warring factions and accomplished this pur- 
pose. Him all, whatever their previous differences may have 
been, were willing to follow.^ 

^ Connor and Poe, op. cit., p. 119. 



332 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

With this conference a new era in North CaroHna's 
educational history began. "A Declaration against 
Illiteracy," in the form of an address to the people of the 
State, was adopted. The address gave a plain state- 
ment of educational conditions and urged all patriotic 
citizens to aid in promoting 

free public schools, open to all, supported by the taxes of all 
its citizens, where every child, regardless of condition in life, 
or circumstances of fortunes, may receive that opportunity for 
training into social service which the constitution of this and 
other great States and the age demand. 

We realize [continued the declaration] that our State has 
reached the constitutional limit of taxation for the rural schools, 
that she has made extra appropriations to lengthen the term 
of these schools to eighty days in the year. We realize, too, 
that the four months' term now provided is inadequate for the 
reason that more than 20,000,000 children of school age in the 
United States outside of North Carolina are now provided an 
average of 145 days of school out of every 365 ; that the teach- 
ers of these children are paid an average salary of $48 a month, 
while the teachers of the children of North Carohna are paid 
hardly $25 a month, thus securing for all the children of our 
sister States more efficient training for the duties of life. And 
we realize that, according to the latest census report and the 
report of the United States Commissioner of Education, for 
every man, woman, and child of its population, the country at 
large is spending $2.83 for the education of its children, while 
North Carolina is sp)ending barely 67 cents; that the country 
at large is spending an average of $20.29 for every pupil enrolled 
in its public schools, while North Carohna is spending only 
$3 or $4, the smallest amount expended by any State in the 
Union. And still further do we reahze that the average amount 
spent for the education of every child of school age in the 
United States is approximately $9.50, while North Carolina is 
spending $1.78. 

The facts should arouse our pride and our patriotism, and 
lead us to inquire whether the future will not hold this genera- 
tion responsible for the perpetuation of conditions that have 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL S33 

resulted in the multiplicity of small school districts, inferior 
schoolhouses, poorly paid teachers, and necessarily poor 
teaching; in twenty white illiterates out of every one hundred 
white population over ten years of age; in generally poor and 
poorly paid supervision of the expenditure of our meager school 
funds and of the teaching done in our schools; and, finally, in 
that educational indifference which is the chief cause of the 
small average daily attendance of about fifty pupils out of 
every hundred enrolled in our public schools. 

The plan of the campaign was outlined and "The Cen- 
tral Campaign Committee for the Promotion of Public 
Education in North Carolina" was created. The work 
of the committee, which was composed of Governor 
Aycock, Superintendent Toon, and Dr. Mclver, was 
to plan systematic campaigns for local taxation, for the 
consolidation of school districts, for building and equip- 
ping better schoolhouses, and for longer school terms 
and larger salaries for teachers. Provision was also made 
for committees to collect, write, and distribute to every 
newspaper in the State weekly articles bearing on the 
matter of better schools, and to write to every minister 
in the State requesting him to preach a sermon on pub- 
lic education at least once a year. A few days later ^ 
Superintendent Toon died of an illness contracted while 
canvassing the State in behalf of improved educational 
facilities, and James Y. Joyner, Professor of English in 
the State Normal and Industrial College, was appointed 
as his successor. Dr. Joyner was eminently qualified by 
nature and training to direct the public-school system 
of the State, and its growth since 1902 has in great 
part been due to his wise leadership. 

The following June the Central Committee opened 
headquarters in the state superintendent's office, and 
February 19, 1902. 



334 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Superintendent Eugene C. Brooks, of the Monroe City 
Schools, was appointed executive secretary to conduct 
the campaign. Though a young man, Mr. Brooks was 
rapidly becoming recognized as a wise and progressive 
school man, and to his new work he brought rare in- 
dustry, resourcefulness, sound judgment, and earnest- 
ness which were soon to place him in the foremost 
ranks of educational leadership in North Carolina. 
The campaign which was to lift the State from its low 
educational position was thus launched. Through the 
leadership and under the inspiration of Aycock, Joy- 
ner, Mclver, and Brooks a genuine educational revival 
began which has continued even to the present. Men 
of every profession and business, of every political faith 
and religious belief, gladly volunteered their services 
in one of the most inspiring and effective educational 
campaigns ever witnessed in any State. 

In open-air meetings, in courthouses, in churches, in school- 
houses, wherever the people could assemble, they gathered 
to hear the most effective orators and debaters in the State 
discuss educational problems and policies. For the first time 
in the history of North Carolina politics yielded first place in 
public interest to education.^ 

The first rally was held at Wentworth, in Rocking- 
ham County, with Thomas J. Jarvis and Dr. Charles D. 
Mclver as speakers. More than one hundred school 
committeemen and every teacher in the county, besides 
hundreds of other citizens, were present. A press dis- 
patch, after describing the interest manifested by the 
audience, said of the address of ex-Governor Jarvis: — 

For two hours this most gifted and honored of all North 
Carolina's most illustrious sons held the large audience spell- 

1 Connor and Pee, oy. cit., p. 122. 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL 335 

bound. At times his plea was pathetic and few could resist it; 
at times his flight of eloquence was soul-stirring as he warmed 
to his subject and pleaded for the education of the children of 
the State. Few of those who heard him will ever forget this 
closing thought: that he was an old man, that his face was 
turned toward the setting sun, that never again would he 
solicit suffrage of the State for himself, that in all probabihty 
he would never again address a Rockingham audience, that 
he loved the State above the power of expression, that it had 
honored him more than he deserved, that he wanted his au- 
dience to know that his parting injunction was to keep the 
churches and schoolhouses open. Do this, and the future will 
be glorious; neglect it, and we go back to barbarism. 

In the afternoon Dr. Mclver spoke on local taxation 
and the consolidation of districts, in a practical, strong, 
and convincing manner. This first rally of the cam- 
paign was typical of scores of others held during the 
summer of 1902. 

In March of the following year plans were made for 
another summer's work similar to but more extensive 
than the first. By June, seventy-eight of the ninety- 
seven counties of the State had planned educational 
rallies in connection with the township meetings which 
were legally required of the school officers. This almost 
universal response greatly impressed the people of the 
State. The press, already strong for educational pro- 
gress, now became stronger and more earnest in its behalf. 
Public men of every calling again offered their services, 
many refusing to accept their traveling expenses. Su- 
perior court judges instructed grand juries to report 
on the condition of school-buildings. Never before 
had interest in public education in North Carolina so 
reflected itself. By the close of the campaign in the 
fall, when many of the teachers and college men who had 
been engaged in it were called back to their work, more 



336 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

than 350 rallies had been held in addition to the regular 
township meetings conducted by the county superin- 
tendents. Seventy-eight counties had been reached, 
local tax districts had increased from 56 to 181, more 
than 300 districts had been abolished by consolidation, 
and 676 new schoolhouses had been built. 

The campaign was carried on without cessation by 
bulletins, through the press of the State, and by public 
speakers. The state officers used all the time they could 
spare from their duties for field work in behalf of the 
cause which had grown so strong in popular favor. 
There was a universal quickening of the public mind — 
the question of education for all the people seemed to 
revive everywhere. The Southern Education Board 
continued its generous aid of the campaign work and 
other agencies lent support to the great movement. 
"The Woman's Association for the Betterment of Pub- 
lic Schoolhouses and Grounds," an organization formed 
at the State Normal and Industrial College in 1902, 
after Dr. Mclver had called the attention of the women 
of the State to the conditions of the schoolhouses, 
rendered especially valuable service in cultivating a 
wholesome public sentiment toward their improvement. 

These public campaigns between 1902 and 1904 stimu- 
lated an even more powerful though quieter campaign 
which has continued uninterrupted. Said Superintend- 
ent Joyner in December, 1904: — 

I weigh my words when I declare it to be my deliberate con- 
viction that the great masses of the people in North Carolina 
are interested as never before in this question of the education 
of their children, that they are talking about it among them- 
selves more than ever before, and that a deep-seated convic- 
tion and a quiet determination that their children shall be 
educated are finding surer lodgment in the minds and hearts 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL 337 

of the people than ever before. This is, to my mind, one of the 
most significant evidences of progress. Mighty revolutions are 
always noiseless and must be wrought first in the minds and 
hearts and wills of the masses. I believe that such a revolu- 
tion upon this question of the education of all the people is 
well under way in North Carolina. 

A growth in sentiment for public education and in 
confidence in the public schools was everywhere notice- 
able. Moreover, there was a marked increase during 
the first decade of the century in the enrollment in the 
institutions of higher education and in the private 
schools and academies of the State. 

Legislative action during this period is another evi- 
dence of the revival that was taking place in education 
in the State when many forward educational steps were 
taken. The annual legislative appropriations, which 
were first made in 1899, when $100,000 was distributed 
to the counties of the State in order to lengthen the 
school term, have been liberally continued. From 1901 
to 1908 these sums amounted to $200,000 annually. 
Since that time they have gradually increased until 
they now amount to $250,000 annually. Since 1901 the 
Legislature has also made liberal provision for estab- 
lishing rural libraries, and there are now nearly 4000 
such libraries in the State. More than haK the districts, 
both white and colored, are now provided with them, and 
they are constantly being established in others. During 
the biennial period closing June 30, 1914, more than 500 
new and 347 supplemental libraries were established, at 
a cost of more than $20,000, and containing an average 
of nearly one hundred volumes of well-selected books. ^ 

^ Statistics given in this chapter are of the biennial period closing 
June 30, 1914, unless otherwise stated. 



338 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

In 1901 the Legislature set apart one day in each 
year, to be known as "North CaroHna Day," for the 
consideration of the history of the State by the public 
schools. Through the aid of members of the State Liter- 
ary and Historical Association and other patriotic citi- 
zens of the State, the department of education has been 
able to prepare and issue in attractive pamphlet form 
interesting programs dealing with the history of North 
Carolina. The articles thus prepared and distributed 
have dealt with the past history of various sections of 
the State, the lives of noteworthy leaders, the present 
resources of the State, and other subjects which tend to 
awaken in the present generation an interest and pride 
in the history of North Carolina, and to inspire confi- 
dence in its future. The annual celebrating of " North 
Carolina Day," when children, patrons, teachers, and 
school oflficers gather at the schoolhouse, has helped to 
stimulate a literary and historical spirit among the peo- 
ple of the State. 

The reorganization of the old literary fund in 1903, 
when $200,000 was set aside as a permanent fund to 
be known as the "State Literary Fund," and to be used 
as a loan fund for building and improving schoolhouses, 
was another forward legislative step. The fund has 
gradually grown and has been the means of greatly 
improving the physical equipment of more than one 
fifth of the schools in the State. Since its establishment 
sums amounting in the aggregate to more than one 
million dollars have been lent to communities in prac- 
tically every county for the purpose of building new 
or improving old schoolhouses. Seventy-nine counties 
were aided by the fund during the biennial period clos- 
ing June 30, 1914; and the total value of houses built 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL 339 

or improved by this aid during that time was nearly 
$800,000.^ 

Legislative attention to the state department of edu- 
cation has also been a significant means of increasing 
the eflSciency of public education in North Carolina. 
Until 1903 the superintendency of public education in 
North Carolina was little more than a poorly paid clerk- 
ship, and had been so since the early seventies. This 
unfortunate condition was produced by the reaction to 
fraud and extravagance practiced in the name of edu- 
cation during the Reconstruction period. But in 1903 
the salary of the superintendent was increased and ap- 
propriations were made to make his department equal in 
dignity and equipment to the other departments of the 
state government. Unlimited authority was given the 
superintendent to issue at public expense bulletins on 
educational topics, such as local taxation, consolidation 
of districts, improvement of schoolhouses, and like sub- 
jects. These bulletins have been distributed in large 
quantities and sent into every district in the State, 
and have rendered incalculable educational service. 

In 1905 the State Association of County Superintend- 
ents was legalized and the counties required to pay the 
expenses of the superintendents while in attendance. 
The school term was equalized throughout the several 
counties and state aid was withdrawn from any counties 
which were careless in levying the authorized school 
taxes. The state board of education was empowered 
to consolidate into five the seven normal schools for 
negro teachers, and Mr. Charles L. Coon, one of the 
foremost school men of the State, was engaged to su- 
perintend their work. 

^ See chap. vii. 



340 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

During the period under discussion the Appalachian 
Training School was established at Boone, and the East 
Carolina Teachers' Training School at Greenville, and 
liberal legislative appropriations were made for their 
maintenance. Improvement was also made in provisions 
for institutes, and other means of training public-school 
teachers while in service. Improvement has likewise 
been made in the compulsory-school law and in child- 
labor legislation, though there is at both of these points 
room for more improvement. In 1907 the Legislature 
authorized the establishment of rural high schools and 
appropriated $45,000 annually for their maintenance. 
This appropriation was increased to $50,000 in 1909 and 
to $75,000 annually two years later. The development 
of rural secondary education in North Carolina since 
that time has been rapid. Between 1907 and 1911 more 
than two hundred rural high schools were established in 
ninety-three counties, supported by local taxation, state 
appropriation, county apportionment, and private dona- 
tions. Many of these schools had a four-year course. 

Progress in rural elementary education for the decade 
from 1901 to 1910 was also conspicuous. During that 
time the annual expenditures for this part of the school 
system increased from $1,018,000 to more than $2,126,- 
000; the average term was increased nearly a school 
month; the value of rural school property was increased 
from $1,146,000 to $3,094,000; more than 3450 new 
schoolhouses were built between 1902 and 1910, an 
average of more than one a day for every day in the 
year; expenditures for teachers' salaries doubled; enroll- 
ment increased 22 per cent, and the average daily at- 
tendance 41 per cent. The expenditures for the salaries 
of county superintendents increased from $23,000 to 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL 341 

5,000, and the average annual salary paid these of- 
ficers increased from $243 to $796. The number of spe- 
cial local tax districts increased from 18 to 1167; rural 
teachers increased from 7971 to 9440, and rural libraries 
increased from 472 to 2272. These libraries contained 
265,000 volumes costing nearly $100,000. The number 
of schools having more than one teacher also annually 
increased. There was likewise noticeable progress in 
school equipment; in 1910 more than 2000 schoolhouses 
were equipped with modern furniture. 

Through the generosity of the Peabody Board and the 
Southern Education Board, there was added to the 
state department of education a supervisor of rural ele- 
mentary schools, who gave his entire time to assisting 
teachers, county superintendents, and local officers in 
further improvement of the country schools. A super- 
visor of teacher-training was also added to the depart- 
ment, to give directions to county institutes, county 
teachers' associations, and teachers' reading-circles. 
In this way the professional training of teachers while in 
service was greatly improved. There was also a marked 
improvement in the efficiency of the normal schools, and 
corresponding progress in high-school work, both city 
and rural, during these years. The number of towns 
and cities establishing schools between 1901 and 1910 
increased from 42 to 118; and city school property in 
1910 was double the value of the total school property 
of the State ten years before. 

During the decade here considered illiteracy was 
greatly reduced. The percentage of illiteracy among 
the white population above ten years of age was reduced 
from 19.4 to 12.3, and among the negroes from 47.6 to 
31.9. Among both races it was decreased from 28.7 to 



342 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

18.5, Other Southern States showed a greater reduction 
of illiteracy among the negroes during these years, but 
no State in the Union surpassed North Carolina in the 
reduction of white illiteracy.^ 

This great change in concrete educational results and, 
what is even more important, in public sentiment for im- 
proved educational conditions, was due in large meas- 
ure to the momentum given the cause by Aycock and 
his devoted and tireless co-laborers, Joyner, Mclver, 
and Brooks. Aycock's modesty would not allow him to 
lay claim to his just share of the credit of the marvelous 
educational awakening which the State experienced 
during the early years of the present century. But it 
must be remembered that while the revival was gaining 
force "he was the leader of the State which was itself 
the leader of the South." This leadership gave him a 
wide reputation, and his services as an educational cam- 
paigner were sought from "Maine to Alabama, from 
North Carolina to Oklahoma." He made a tour of 
Maine in 1904, on the invitation of the superintendent 
of public instruction of that State; and he was deliver- 
ing his famous speech on "Universal Education" to 
a large and enthusiastic audience in Birmingham, Ala- 
bama, April 4, 191^, when he fell dead. 

Aycock's philosophy of education was simple: he be- 
lieved in "educating everybody and educating every- 
thing." This creed made him the negro's best and most 
active educational advocate, although he labored to 
disfranchise the black man until the latter could qualify 
for intelligent participation in political affairs. A con- 
spicuous illustration of his sense of right and justice 
on the question of negro education was his firm stand 
^ Connor and Poe, op. cit., p. 138. 



AYCOCK AND THE REVIVAL 343 

against, and final defeat of, a movement to amend the 
constitution so as to make provision for distributing 
school taxes to each race in proportion to the amounts 
paid by each. He regarded such an amendment both 
unjust and dangerous and a gross violation of his solemn 
pledge that all the people of both races should be given 
improved educational facilities. Like another great 
apostle of democracy and education. Ay cock had great 
faith in the mass of the people; and like Jefferson he 
believed that they meant well and would act well when- 
ever they understood. His labor in their behalf will 
continue an inspiration and a blessing to the future gen- 
erations of the State for whose advancement he gave 
such noble and unstinted service. 



344 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 



REFERENCES 

Public Laws of North Carolina, 1899 to 1911; Biennial 
Reports of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
1898 to 1912; Annual Reports of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education, 1898-1912; North Carolina Education 
(E. C. Brooks, editor), vols, i to x; Connor and Poe, The Life 
and Speeches of Charles B. Aycock; Brooks, " The Development 
of Public Education in North Carolina" (unpublished manu- 
script); Murphy, The Present South; Boyd, "Some Phases of 
Educational History in the South since 1865," in Studies in 
Southern History and Politics. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. Compare educational conditions in North Carolina in 
1860 and in 1900. 

2. What were the obstacles in the way of educational im- 
provement in the State in 1900.!^ 

3. In what way was Aycock the leader in the revival be- 
tween 1900 and 1904? 

4. What other forces were at work during those years? How 
did the movement continue? 

5. Account for educational indifference in the State at that 
time. 

6. What educational progress did the State make between 
1900 and 1910? 

7. What improvements were made in your county during 
that decade? 

8. Compare this period with the period under Wiley's 
leadership before the war. 

9. Read Ay cock's speech on "Universal Education" and 
note the educational philosophy which it contains. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE PRESENT SYSTEM: ITS TASKS AND 
TENDENCIES 

The momentum given educational development in 
North Carolina through the campaigns described in the 
preceding chapter has continued uninterrupted. The 
questions of local taxation, the consolidation of schools, 
and of improvement in teachers, continue to be agi- 
tated through bulletins issued by the state department 
of education, through the press, and through numerous 
other effective means. Much of the state superintend- 
ent's time, as well as the time of members of his staff, 
is given to field work and to educational campaign work 
throughout the State. And in many counties enthusi- 
astic and energetic county superintendents carry on 
continuously active and effective campaigns for school 
improvement. Their work, which is also assisted by the 
more enterprising and devoted teachers and public- 
spirited citizens, is promoted by public addresses, com- 
munity meetings, circular letters, bulletins, and by 
numerous other means; and, to quote Superintendent 
Joyner, " the most effective part of this campaign is that 
carried on from year's end to year's end, without blare 
of trumpets, in the county, under the direction of effi- 
cient county superintendents of common sense and con- 
secration." Indeed, the county is now the strategic 
point in the State's educational system. 

Present educational growth appears in improved 
legislative action, in an increase in available funds 



846 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

and expenditures for public-school support, in an in- 
crease of public-school property, of local tax districts 
and funds raised by local taxation, and an increase in the 
school term and in attendance. There has also been 
considerable improvement in teachers' institutes and 
in other facilities for the professional training of teach- 
ers while in service. Improvement likewise appears in 
county supervision, and in the adaptation of the work 
of the country school to the everyday needs of the 
country people. 

Through some important educational legislation, 
enacted in the State in recent years, means have been 
created for increasing the eflBciency of the public- 
school system of the State. One of the most important 
pieces of recent legislation is the act of March, 1913, 
which provides for a six months' school term. By the 
provisions of this act the "state equalizing fund" was 
created by setting aside "annually five cents of the an- 
nual ad-valorem tax levied and collected for state pur- 
poses on every one hundred dollars' value of real and 
personal property in this State." The fund thus de- 
rived is used exclusively to pay the salaries of teachers, 
to lengthen the school term, and to bring the term in 
every school district of the State to an equal length of 
a minimum of six months or as near thereto as the in- 
creased funds will provide. In appropriating the equal- 
izing fund no account is taken of local tax funds in the 
county; and in order to participate in its distribution a 
county must first provide, with its own funds, a school 
term of at least four months, and is required, in order 
to provide this minimum term, to levy a special prop- 
erty tax of as much as fifteen cents on the hundred 
dollars' valuation and a capitation tax of forty-five 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 347 

cents. When a county has complied with these require- 
ments it is entitled to receive appropriations from the 
equalizing fund. The additional tax levied by this act 
has made it possible to appropriate the sum of $250,000 
annually to be distributed per capita to the public 
schools of the State. 

The same Legislature passed an improved compul- 
sory-attendance act. All children between eight and 
twelve years of age are required by this law to attend 
school at least four months each year. Parents are re- 
quired to send their children to school and are subject 
to punishment for violating the provisions of the act^ 
Attendance oflScers are appointed by the county board 
of education, and teachers are required to cooperate 
with them in the enforcement of the law. The county 
board of education is given power "to make such rules 
and regulations as they may deem best to secure the 
attendance of all children between the ages of eight and 
twelve years upon schools of the county." The act 
exempts children whose physical or mental condition 
renders their "attendance impracticable or inexpedi- 
ent"; those who reside "two and one half miles or 
more" from the schoolhouse; those whose services, 
"because of extreme poverty," are needed for their own 
support or the support of their parents; and those who 
are without the necessary books and clothes for attend- 
ing school and are unable to provide them. 

Another act of great educational importance passed 
in 1913 is the "act to regulate and restrict labor in 
manufacturing establishments." By the provisions of 
this act no child under twelve years of age can be 
employed in any factory except in the capacity of 
an apprentice, "and only then after having attended 



848 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

school four months in the preceding twelve months." 
The employment of persons under sixteen years of age 
"in any mill, factory, or manufacturing establish- 
ment," between 9 p. m, and 6 a. m., is also forbidden./ 

Another advanced legislative step was the act pro- 
viding for the establishment of farm-life schools. This 
step was first taken in 1911, when the Legislature passed 
an act to promote the teaching of agriculture and 
domestic science in the public high schools of Guilford 
County. Two years later the law was made to apply to 
any county in the State which complied with its pro- 
visions. Any county which provides the required equip- 
ment and an annual maintenance fund equal to the 
amount appropriated from the State, receives from the 
State an annual appropriation not to exceed $2500 for 
instruction in agricultural subjects, sewing, cooking, 
household economics, and other similar subjects, in con- 
nection with one or more of its rural high schools.^ 

Any school which applies for the benefit of this pro- 
vision must first provide a building with suitable recita- 
tion rooms, laboratories, and apparatus necessary for 
efficient instruction in the subjects prescribed and such 
dormitory facilities as the county board of education 
may require. A farm of "not less than ten acres of good 
arable land," situated near the school, must also be 
provided, and both the site and the equipment must be 
approved by the state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion. No part of the funds for the annual maintenance 
or equipment of these schools is allowed to come from 
the regular school funds of the county until such funds 
are sufficient to maintain a minimum school term of six 

* This type of school is discussed more fully below in connection 
with a discussion of public high schools. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 349 

months in the county. The cooperation and often the 
sacrifice of the communities in which such schools are 
estabhshed are significant evidence of widespread inter- 
est in the movement which looks to furnishing a more 
adequate training for the country youth, "and of the 
faith of the country people in a sort of education and 
school that can and will provide better preparation for 
more profitable, more comfortable, more healthful, more 
joyous, and more contented living in the country." The 
courses of study of such schools are subject to the 
approval of the state superintendent, and the teachers 
must show "satisfactory evidence of a liberal English 
education, and in addition thereto special preparation 
and fitness for the specific branches to be taught," and 
they must also hold a high-school teacher's certificate in 
all required subjects except Greek, Latin, and modern 
languages. 

An act to permit counties, townships, and certain 
school districts to issue bonds to build schoolhouses; an 
act to authorize the aldermen or other governing officials 
of towns and cities to issue bonds, upon approval by a 
vote of the people, for purchasing sites and erecting 
buildings for school purposes; an act allowing women to 
serve on school committees under the same conditions 
and restrictions as are now imposed on men; and an act 
to provide for the establishment of county farm-life 
schools, are among other advanced legislative steps 
taken in recent years to promote the educational de- 
velopment of the State. 

As a result of new and improved legislation, and of 
interest and enthusiasm which began during the 
Aycock campaigns, notable progress has been made in 
the development of education in North Carolina in 



350 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

recent years. This progress appears in numerous ways. 
Nearly $6,000,000 was spent for public-school education 
in the State during the scholastic year ending June 30, 
1914, an increase of more than $1,000,000 over the 
previous year. Of this amount about $4,000,000 was 
for rural and $2,000,000 for urban schools. The total 
amount raised by county and local district taxation for 
public schools in 1914 was more than $4,000,000, an 
increase of more than $600,000 over 1912. During the 
biennial period ending June 30, 1914, nearly 200 local 
tax districts were established by voluntary vote of the 
people in villages and rural communities, an average of 
nearly two a week during the two years. On June 30, 
1914, there were 1629 such districts in the State. All the 
counties of the State now (1916) have from one to sixty 
local tax districts, and more than twenty-two per cent 
of the entire school fund is raised in this manner. 

Progress in the building, improving, and equipping 
schoolhouses has also continued. During the biennial 
period ending June 30, 1914, more than 800 new rural 
schoolhouses were built at a cost of more than $800,000, 
an average of more than one schoolhouse for every day, 
a rate of building which has been maintained for more 
than twelve years. These houses were built according 
to modern plans prepared by expert architects and ap- 
proved by the state superintendent of public instruc- 
tion. Three fifths of all the schoolhouses in North 
Carolina have been built anew or rebuilt since 1902. 
Along with this improvement in schoolhouses there has 
gone a corresponding improvement in school furniture 
and equipment. During the biennial period ending 
June 30, 1914, more than $313,000 was spent for furni- 
ture and equipment in rural schools. At the close of that 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 351 

period more than 3400 rural schoolhouses were equipped 
with modern furniture. There were reported at that 
time, however, about 165 log schoolhouses and more 
than 3000 rural schoolhouses were reported furnished 
with home-made desks. The total value of the public- 
school property of the State in 1914 was more than 
$9,000,000; rural school property was valued at more 
than $5,000,000 and city school property at more than 
$4,000,000. This was an increase over 1912 of more than 
$1,600,000. 

Largely as a result of the equalizing fund and the 
compulsory-attendance act, marked improvement has 
recently appeared in enrollment, average attendance, 
and in the length of the school term. The school popula- 
tion in 1914 was 525,000 white and 253,000 colored. 
The enrollment for the same year was 409,000 white and 
189,000 colored, which was 75,000 more than in 1912, — 
white children 38,000 and colored children 37,000. The 
school population increased during these years only 
16,000. The increase in average daily attendance during 
this biennial period was 75,000, — white children about 
46,000, and colored children about 29,000. During this 
period there was an increase in the average term of the 
rural white schools of 17.8 days and of the rural colored 
schools of 19.3 days. The average public-school term of 
the entire State in 1914 was about 122 days. There has 
been a notable increase in the number of rural teachers 
and in their average annual salary. The total number of 
white teachers in the rural schools of the State in 1914 
was 8344. Of this number 6357 held first-grade certif- 
icates, and 1884 and 103 held second- and third-grade 
certificates, respectively. More than 3500 had normal 
training, and more than 1250 held college diplomas. In 



352 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the same year 2650 colored teachers were employed in 
rural schools. Of this number 888 held first-grade cer- 
tificates, and 1706 and 56 held second- and third-grade 
certificates, respectively. More than 1300 had normal 
training, and 366 held college diplomas. The average 
monthly salary paid rural white teachers in 1914 was 
$40.74, and colored teachers received $24.69. The 
average monthly salary paid all public-school teachers 
in the State in that year was $39.81. 

The State also has numerous agencies for the prepara- 
tion of teachers and for their professional training while 
in service. The State Normal and Industrial College at 
Greensboro, established in 1891, and the East Carolina 
Teachers' Training School at Greenville, established in 
1907, are the largest institutions supported by the 
State for the normal instruction of white teachers. The 
Cullowhee Normal School at Cullowhee has, since 1893, 
been receiving state support for the training of young 
men and women for teaching in the rural and village 
elementary schools. In 1903 the Legislature established, 
for the counties of Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, 
Yancey, Caldwell, and Wilkes, a school for the training 
of public-school teachers and has made liberal appropria- 
tions for its maintenance since that time.^ All of these 
institutions have rendered noteworthy service in pro- 
moting the educational development of the State. The 
Peabody School of Education of the state university 
is doing highly creditable work, a school of education 
has been maintained at Trinity College since 1910, and 
practically all other private institutions of collegiate 
rank in the State are giving courses for the prepara- 
tion of teachers. 

There are three normal schools for negroes in the 

» See pp. S39, 340. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 353 

State — the State Colored Normal School at Elizabeth 
City, the State Colored Normal School at Fayetteville, 
and the Slater Industrial and State Normal School at 
Winston-Salem. These institutions are supported by 
state and local funds and appropriations from the Slater 
Fund, which fund has been of great service to negro edu- 
cation in the State, and are doing commendable work. 
Especially eflScient work is done in these schools in the 
industrial and manual subjects. Courses in teacher- 
training are also given during the summer term of the 
Negro Agricultural and Technical College at Greensboro, 
which was established in 1891. The Indian Normal 
School, at Pembroke, in Robeson County, was estab- 
lished by the Legislature in 1887 to train teachers for the 
Croatan schools of that county, and is supported by 
state funds. The work of the negro and Indian normal 
schools is supervised by a special superintendent, on the 
staff of the state department of public instruction.^ 

Improvement in facilities for training teachers while 
in service has also been made in recent years. By 
amendments to the school law, enacted in 1909, a teach- 
ers' institute, to continue two weeks every two years, 
was made mandatory for every county in the State- 
These institutes are conducted by competent and well- 
trained men and women and are of much service to the 

* Separate schools are provided for the education of "persons re- 
siding in Robeson, Sampson, and Richmond counties, supposed to be 
descendants of a friendly tribe once residing in the eastern portion of 
the State, known as Croatan Indians, and their descendants." In 
1914 there were 2498 such persons of school age in these counties, 
with 1854 enrolled in 28 schools, which had an average term of nearly 
103 days. With the exception of the provisions for separate schools 
the general public-school law is applicable to the education of these 
children. Laws of 1885, chap. 51, sec. 2; 1889, chap. 60, sec. 1; 1911, 
chap. 215. 



354 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

public-school teachers of the State. Through the state 
supervisor of teacher-training, an office created in 1909, 
this work has been systematized and greatly improved. 
In 1914 teachers' institutes were held in sixty -four coun- 
ties. Special arrangements are allowed in Chowan, Dur- 
ham, Guilford, Orange, Pitt, Wake, and Watauga Coun- 
ties for the training of teachers through special work in 
summer schools or otherwise. Teachers' associations 
have been organized in practically every county in the 
State with regular monthly meetings of the teachers; 
and reading-circles, for pursuing the professional course 
of study prescribed by the state department of public in- 
struction, are also organized in many communities. In 
all of these agencies, and especially in that of the pro- 
fessional improvement of teachers. North Carolina Ed- 
ucation, the official state teachers' journal, is heartily 
cooperating and rendering most valuable service.^ 

Encouraging progress continues also in the develop- 
ment of rural secondary education. ^ Since the passage of 
the public high-school law in 1907 there has been a grad- 
ual increase in the number of schools and their equip- 
ment, and in teaching force, enrollment, and length of 
school term. The report of the state inspector of high 
schools for 1915 showed that there were 214 of these 
schools in the State in that year, and that the number 
was gradually increasing. At that time only five counties 

» See p. 363. 

^ The author is indebted to Professor N. W. Walker, state inspector 
of high schools, for practically all the material contained in the follow- 
ing discussion of secondary education. The material is included here 
practically as he prepared it. This discussion pertains primarily to 
rural public high schools. The city schools of North Carolina oper- 
ate under special charters and are not aflFected by the public high- 
school law. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 355 

in the State were without these institutions — Chowan, 
New Hanover, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Watauga. 
Eighty-nine of these schools had four-year courses, 
eighty-seven had three-year courses, and thirty-eight 
had two-year courses. The enrollment in 1915 was 
8986 and the average daily attendance was 6773. The 
number of teachers employed in these schools at that 
time was 434. More than $260,000 was expended for 
rural secondary education in the State in that year, and 
the average school term was about 156 days. Consider- 
able progress was being made in the construction of new 
and better buildings, in improving dormitory facilities, 
and in the improvement of equipment and apparatus. 
Since the beginning of this system of state-aided public 
high schools new buildings and equipment costing 
$2,000,000 have been provided for them and for the 
elementary grades operated in connection with them. 
Forty of these schools have provided dormitories. The 
accompanying table indicates the material progress that 
was made in this part of the educational system of the 
State between 1908 and 1915: — 

1908 1915 

Schools in operation 145 214 

Schools reporting four-year courses. 2 89 

Schools reporting three year courses 43 87 

Schools reporting two-year courses 100 38 

Number of teachers in these schools 215 434 

Number of full-time teachers 173 340 

Number of students enrolled . 3,949 8,986 

Number of fourth-year students en- 
rolled 70 609 

Amount of high-school funds raised 
by local taxation for mainte- 
nance $27,474.48 $81,267.62 



356 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Amount of high-school funds con- 
tributed by the counties for main- 
tenance $21,943.65 $75,348.92 

Amount spent for maintenance, .. $91,415.99 $247,253.59 

In the rural high-school development of the State 
standardization has not been made a fetish. The chief 
emphasis has been on laying safe and sane foundations 
for a state-wide system of secondary schools which may 
be standardized later according to rational standards. 
When begun, a few years ago, these schools were en- 
grafted upon some of the best rural elementary schools 
in such a way as to insure their development from the 
elementary school upward rather than from the college 
downward. This does not mean that in the effort to 
build up high schools for the country districts standards 
have been forgotten or neglected. Along with the in- 
crease in popular interest in public secondary schools, 
and with their increase in numbers, in financial support, 
teaching force, and material equipment, there have come 
better organization, correlation and system, and better 
standards of work. The school officials have come to a 
better understanding and appreciation of the scope and 
purpose of the secondary school, and realize that as an 
institution it has peculiar problems and unusual obliga- 
tions and opportunities. The tendency now is to put 
into practice principles which were long ago accepted 
only in theory — to adapt the high school, through 
properly differentiated courses of instruction, to the 
needs of the individual pupil, and to relate it more 
closely to community life. This tendency is especially 
pronounced in the farm-life school departments. 

The farm-life school in the State is in every case, 
except Vanceboro in Craven County and Clemmons in 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 357 

Forsyth County, a department of the state-aided pubHc 
high school, in which department special provision is 
made for affording the boys of the country districts 
an opportunity to study agriculture and certain allied 
subjects, and for affording the girls an opportunity to 
study home economics and certain related subjects. 
The funds for operating the departments of agriculture 
and home economics are contributed by the county and 
the State, and these funds are in addition to all others 
contributed from these sources. This type of school, 
known in most States as the "agricultural high school,'* 
has been given the local name of "farm-life school" in 
North Carolina because its primary purpose is to fit 
boys and girls for happier and more profitable living 
on the farm. Instruction in farm-life subjects in these 
schools is not confined, however, to pupils of the high- 
school grades; the farm-life department is open also to 
pupils of the intermediate and grammar grades. More- 
over, certain kinds of extension work are carried on in 
the community and throughout the county, not only 
during the regular session, but also during vacation 
time. 

At this time (1916) there are in operation in the State 
nineteen of these farm-life departments, and provision 
has been made for opening others. The present value 
of these nineteen high-school plants, in connection with 
which these departments are operated, is about $420,000. 
Improvements made during the year 1914-15 amounted 
to more than $178,000. The school buildings proper are 
worth about $240,000, and the dormitories connected 
with them are worth nearly $100,000. These schools 
own 698 acres of land worth $44,000, and barns, stock, 
and equipment worth nearly $20,000. For the year 



358 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

1914-15 there was spent for the maintenance of these 
special departments the sum of $39,000, and for the 
year 1915-16 more than $60,000 was spent for the same 
purpose. 

All public high schools receiving state aid are, of 
course, under state supervision. Their courses of study 
must be approved by the state superintendent of public 
instruction; their teachers must be examined and cer- 
tificated by the state board of examiners; and their 
buildings and equipment must be adequate for the work 
which they undertake to do. The state inspector of 
high schools, who is appointed by the state superintend- 
ent of public instruction, gives practically all of his time 
to the supervision and direction of all high schools which 
are aided by the State. ^ Speaking of this part of the 
educational system of the State, Professor' Walker 
says : — 

The outlook for the larger development of this system of 
schools is indeed encouraging, and the remarkable progress 
already made is prophetic of greater expansion and growth in 
the near future. The present policy and ideal of those charged 
with the direction of educational affairs in North Carolina 
look to providing a system of public secondary education 
adequate enough to meet the State's needs for high-school 
training — the needs for college preparation, for cultural 
training, and partially, at least, the needs for vocational 
training. It will, of course, be some time before this system of 
schools will be developed to such a degree of efficiency, but 
the progress already made is highly encouraging for the future. 
For the present the effort is to develop from one to four state- 
aided high schools in each county, at least one of which shall 
be fully and adequately equipped for giving a standard four- 
year program of study, with courses properly differentiated 

^ The state inspector of high schools is also Professor of Secondary 
Education in the University of North Carolina. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 359 

to meet varying individual and community needs. A safe 
foundation has been laid, and the public high schools of the 
State are rapidly becoming enabled to meet any reasonable 
demands made upon them in the matter of preparing young 
people for college and for the duties of citizenship and life. 

Attention should also be called to the rapidly develop- 
ing city and town public high schools. These schools 
are not operated under the special high-school law, but 
under special charters. For the year 1914-15 seventy- 
one such schools reported to the state department of 
education. Forty -five of these reported four-year 
courses, and twenty-six reported three-year courses. 
In these schools 339 teachers were engaged in instruct- 
ing nearly 8000 pupils. These schools are rapidly becom- 
ing standardized, and are reorganizing their work so as 
to meet the demands of the colleges for more advanced 
preparation for entrance and the demands for voca- 
tional and industrial training that come from the com- 
munities supporting them. 

An increase in the number of well-trained county super- 
intendents who are giving their entire time to the work 
of supervising the country school is another sign of con- 
tinued educational progress. In 1914 seventy-one super- 
intendents were devoting their entire time to this im- 
portant work, an increase of twenty over 1912. These 
officers are organized into state and district associations, 
and hold annual meetings for a study of their common 
problems and for making improvement at this vital 
point. More intelligent and expert supervision is now 
one of the most persistent needs of rural education in 
North Carolina. 

To promote improvement in this part of the public- 
school system two state agents for rural elementary 



S60 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

schools, one for the white and one for the colored schools, 
give practically all their time to field work, in making 
a first-hand study of the needs and conditions of rural 
education. Their work has revealed the need for more 
adequate school supervision, and many county boards 
of education have appropriated funds for employing 
competent women to assist in this work. Seven counties 
were employing rural supervisors for white schools in 
1914, and supervisors for the colored schools were em- 
ployed in nineteen counties in the same year. Of these 
latter fifteen were employed by county funds and ap- 
propriations from the Jeanes Fund, and four received 
their compensation from the counties and the Slater 
Fund. The Peabody Rural Supervision Fund aids in 
the work among the white schools. Through the work of 
the supervisors among the negro schools improvements 
have been made in buildings and grounds, in sanitary 
conditions, and in the efficiency of the teaching. They 
aid the regular teachers in teaching the usual subjects, 
and in addition teach cooking, sewing, house-cleaning, 
shuck mat-making, chair-caning, basketry, and other 
forms of industry. They have also helped to organize 
"Home-Makers Clubs" among the girls and women, 
the purpose of which corresponds to the "Tomato 
Club" and "Corn Club" work carried on among the 
white people. 

The first great educational problem [in North Carolina 
to-day, says Dr. J. Y. Joyner, state superintendent of public 
instruction] is the adaptation of the work of the rural school 
to the needs of rural life, to the everyday needs of the country 
people, that constitute more than eight tenths of our popula- 
tion. We must prepare country boys and girls to make the 
most, and to get the most, out of all that is about them — 
soil, plant, and animal, the three great sources of wealth in 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 361 

the world; and to use what they make and get in the best ways 
to enrich, sweeten, beautify, and upHft country Hfe, socially, 
morally, intellectually, spiritually, making it the ideal life 
that God intended it to be, which men will seek and love to 
live. This includes and necessitates the development of a 
type of country school, by reasonable consolidation of small 
districts and by local taxation in larger territories, that shall 
not have less than three teachers and shall be adequately 
equipped in all respects to give such preparation, vocational 
and cultural, to the country boys and girls, and to become the 
social, intellectual, industrial, and civic center of the whole 
community.^ 

To the successful solution of this problem many 
agencies are contributing, and encouraging signs of 
success are rapidly appearing. The establishment of 
farm-life schools and of rural high schools, and special 
attention to the preparation of teachers for instruction 
and training in rural-life subjects, all show promise of 
almost unlimited development for "the preservation, 
prosperity and happiness of our rural population, for 
the protection and progress of our urban population 
and for the prevention of the decay of our whole civiliza- 
tion." Other hopeful and stimulating means for rural 
uplift are "Community Service Week," which was in- 
augurated in 1914 to improve the schools, roads, and 
social, economic, moral, and health conditions of the 
State, "North Carolina Day," and county commence- 
ments. County commencements mark one of the most 
significant forward educational steps taken in the State 
in recent years. In 1914 forty-one counties held com- 
mencements in which 75,000 children participated,^ and 
2500 children received certificates for the completion of 

* News and Observer (Educational Edition), July, 1915. 

* The first county commencement in North Carolina was held in 
Wayne County in 1910. For " North Carolina Day " see chap. xv. 



362 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the seventh grade of school work. These occasions are 
proving very effective means for cultivating local pride 
and community patriotism and sentiment for general 
educational improvement. In all of this work many 
agencies are helping: the state department of educa- 
tion, educational institutions, the state department of 
agriculture, the Farmers' Union, and the state board of 
health. Practical instruction in public health and hy- 
giene is another forward step toward improvement of 
rural conditions, and wholesome sentiment is rapidly 
gaining that such instruction should be more exten- 
sively emphasized through educational agencies. 

Effective means for promoting practical instruction 
and of connecting the work of the school with the life 
of the people have also appeared in the development of 
boys' corn clubs, girls' tomato clubs, and other forms 
of community organization. Through the aid of the 
national department of agriculture, the state depart- 
ment of agriculture and experiment station, the Agricul- 
tural and Mechanical College, the state department of 
education, cooperating with teachers, supervisors, and 
county superintendents, an increased interest in this 
work continues to develop. 

In the general movement for educational improve- 
ment the North Carolina Teachers' Assembly and North 
Carolina Education, the oflScial state teachers' journal, 
continue to lend invaluable aid. The state teachers' 
organization, which had a creditable ante-bellum ca- 
reer,^ was revived in 1884, and since that time has been 
one of the most helpful agencies in educational progress 
and in the professional improvement and inspiration 
of the teachers of the State. The meetings, which are 
^ See chap. ix. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 363 

held annually during Thanksgiving week and usually 
in Raleigh, are largely attended by all the educational 
forces of the State. Numerous organizations are allied 
with the assembly and hold their annual meetings at 
the same time. Among these are the Association of 
1 Kindergarten Teachers, the Association of Primary 
Teachers, the Association of Grammar Grade Teachers, 
the State Association of County Superintendents, the 
Association of City School Superintendents and Prin- 
cipals, the Association of Music Teachers, and the Asso- 
ciation of High School Teachers and Principals. Presi- 
dent Robert H. Wright, of the East Carolina Teachers' 
Training School, is president of the assembly for 1916. 
North Carolina Education, now for many years the 
official teachers' journal of the State, is devoted to " edu- 
cation, rural progress, and civic betterment." The 
magazine is edited by Professor E. C. Brooks, of the 
Trinity College School of Education, and published by 
Mr. W. F. Marshall, of Raleigh. It is published monthly 
except July and August, and since its establishment 
under the present editorship in September, 1906, has 
been of immediate help to all movements that looked 
to promoting educational advancement in the State, 
and has rendered especially valuable service in stimu- 
lating a professional spirit among the teachers of North 
Carolina. 

The North Carolina High-School Bulletin, edited by 
State Inspector of High Schools N. W. Walker, began 
publication in 1910. This magazine is published quar- 
terly by the University of North Carolina and is sent 
free of cost to all superintendents and high-school prin- 
cipals in the State. It is devoted to the improvement 
of the high schools, its articles dealing in the main with 



364 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

the various phases of secondary educational work, and 
in this field it is rendering a high order of service.^ 

Another important task facing the State to-day is the 
elimination of adult illiteracy. According to the federal 
census of 1910 fully twelve per cent of the total white 
population of North Carolina above ten years of age, 
and fourteen per cent of the white male adults, are un- 
able to read and write. The number of white female 
adults who are unable to read and write is probably as 
large, though statistics are lacking on the subject. In 
1910 the census showed that, with the exception of 
Louisiana and New Mexico, North Carolina had the 
largest number of native-born white illiterates in 
the United States. These conditions are arousing the 
people of the State to action. Through the cooperation 
of the North Carolina Farmers' Union and the state 
board of agriculture, funds have been provided for the 

^ Since the war educational journalism in North Carolina has had 
numerous careers. Stephen D. Pool edited the North Carolina Journal 
of Education at Raleigh in 1874 and 1875; J. F. Heitman edited the 
North Carolina Educational Journal at Chapel Hill from 1881 to 1883 
and at Trinity College from 1883 to 1885; Eugene Harrell edited the 
North Carolina Teacher at Raleigh from 1883 to 1895, a magazine 
intended largely for graded-school teachers; W. A. Blair and J. F. 
Tomlinson were joint editors of the School Teacher, published at 
Winston-Salem from January to November, 1887, when Blair became 
sole editor and proprietor. After that time the magazine appeared for 
several years at Winston-Salem and Baltimore. The Southern Edu- 
cator was edited by Edwin S. Shepp at Durham from 1890 to 1893. 
The Western North Carolina Journal of Education was published by 
D. L. Ellis at Fair View Collegiate Institute from August, 1891, to 
1892. P. P. Claxton and Logan D. Howell began editing and man- 
aging the North Carolina Journal of Education at Greensboro in Au- 
gust, 1897, where it appeared monthly for three years. It was sus- 
pended for six months, but resumed publication in February, 1901. 
In July of that year it became the Atlantic Educational Journal, pub- 
lished at Richmond, Dallas, and St. Louis, with P. P. Claxton as 
editor. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 365 

employment of a secretary who is devoting his attention 
to the organization of a movement to reduce ilUteracy. 
Other civic, social, educational, and benevolent organi- 
zations, and the press of the State, are lending their as- 
sistance also; and through the means of the "moonlight 
school," which has been found effective in Kentucky 
and other States and successfully used in several coun- 
ties of North Carolina in 1914, rapid progress is being 
made in solving this problem, which is giving concern 
to all thoughtful people of the State. ^ 

Other tendencies and tasks than those of increasing 
the material equipment of the schools; of improving, 
professionalizing, and protecting the teachers;^ of 
adapting the work of the school to the life of the people; 
of emphasizing agricultural, industrial, and vocational 
training, and of eliminating adult illiteracy, are also 
present in education in North Carolina. The complex 
business life of the time has produced a condition which 
calls for more attention to moral instruction in the 
schools, in favor of which sentiment is gradually grow- 
ing. / The education and training of defectives is also 
claiming increased attention, and development in this 
direction will likely continue. The State School for the 
Blind, at Raleigh; the State School for the Deaf, at 

* The "moonlight school" is a school conducted in the public- 
school building at night by volunteer teachers. For the convenience 
of the country people the school is conducted preferably on moonlight 
nights. The first of these schools for illiterate adults was established 
in Harnett County by J. D. Ezzell, the late superintendent of schools 
of that county. 

^ The State has never undertaken a pension system for its teachers, 
though the matter has been frequently agitated locally, and a teach- 
ers' mutual aid society was formed by the public-school teachers of 
Raleigh in January, 1915. This is the first step taken in North Caro- 
lina toward teachers' pensions. 



366 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Morganton; the Stonewall Jackson Training School, at 
Concord, for moral defectives; and the Caswell Training 
School, at Kinston, for mental defectives, are liberally 
supported by the State and are doing creditable edu- 
cational work. The tendency of the State to care for its 
mentally deficient children and the universal growth of 
the humane spirit have given impetus to a rather wide- 
spread movement to secure a better organization of 
education and a more rational grading of school work. 
This movement is rapidly appearing in the larger and 
better regulated city systems and will perhaps eventually 
receive attention generally. The application of more 
scientific methods to educational problems is likewise 
a significant tendency in the State at the present time, 
and gives evidence of a broadening conception of educa- 
tional enterprise. 



THE PRESENT SYSTEM 367 



REFERENCES 

Public Laws of North Carolina; Report of the State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction for 1912-14; North Carolina 
Education, vols, i to x; Reports of the State Inspector of Public 
High Schools, 1907-08 to 1914-15; Report of the Supervisor 
of Teacher-Training, 1912-14; Reports oi the State Agents of 
Rural Schools, 1914. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 

1. What improvements in supervision are being made in 
your county? 

2. How did your county observe " North Carolina Day " 
last year? How did it observe " Community Service 
Week" ? 

3. How does the compulsory-attendance law work in your 
community? What are the diflBculties of enforcing the 
law? 

4. How many rural high schools in your county? How many 
farm-life schools? 

5. What is being done in your school to give instruction and 
training in domestic science and industrial work? 

6. How have the qualifications of the teachers improved in 
your county in recent years? 

7. What is being done to promote the professional develop- 
ment of the teachers in your county? 

8. What is the most difficult educational problem in your 
community? 

9. What is your most difficult problem as a teacher? 

10. How many commencements has your county held? 
What has been the value of such occasions to your com- 
munity? 

11. What is your community doing to reduce adult illiteracy? 

12. How many moonlight schools were conducted in yout 
county last year? How many this year? What has been 
the result of this work? 



CHAPTER XVII 1 

WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 

The history of education in North CaroHna is an in- 
spiring story of the heroic struggle of the common man 
for equahty of opportunity in education that he and his 
might have equahty of opportunity in hfe. It is a story 
of a struggle first against the hindering hand of inherited 
aristocracy, tradition, and prejudice, reaching out from 
a revered but dead past, and later against the ruin, 
poverty, and demoralization of a devastating civil war. 
This story has been well told in the preceding pages, and 
the author has rendered a valuable service to this and 
subsequent generations of North Carolinians. 

The names of Murphey and Wiley, of Mclver and Ay- 
cock, and of other great leaders in this glorious struggle, 
shall shine on the pages of North Carolina's history and 
be cherished in the hearts of her people until time shall 
be no more. But in a democracy the burden of every 
battle for better education must be borne at last by the 
multitudes and the victory finally won by them. Let us 
not forget, then, the common man and the common 
woman, — common in numbers, uncommon in char- 
acter and consecration, — in shop and field and office, 
in home and schoolroom and market-place, through 
whose quiet labor and unheralded sacrifice, through 
whose dauntless courage and deep conviction, so many 
of the dreams of these great leaders and prophets of 

• The author is indebted to Dr. James Y. Joyner, state superin- 
tendent of public instruction, for this chapter. 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 869 

education have been turned into splendid realities and 
so many of their hopes into happy fulfillment. May this 
story of our educational struggle and achievement in 
past and present serve to inspire all who read it with a 
larger hope for the future, to quicken their zeal and 
strengthen their arm for the larger educational tasks 
that lie before us. 

For what has been done let us thank God and from 
it take courage. But, after all, looked at in the large, 
how small indeed does seem the little done, how great 
the much to be done, and how little the time to do it. ; 

With 13,255 teachers employed in the white and col- 
ored schools of North Carolina, only about one fifth of 
whom have college diplomas, less than one half of whom 
have had any special professional training, but little 
more than one half of whom have had as much as four 
years' experience in teaching, there is still much to be 
done. More money must be spent, more legislation must 
be enacted, and more must be accomplished for elevat- 
ing, standardizing, and improving the profession of 
teaching and for guaranteeing to it, the children, and 
the public the protection which they deserve. 

With an average annual school term for the United 
States of 158.1 days, an average annual school term in 
many States of 180 days, and with an average annual 
school term of only 121.98 days in North Carolina, 
much remains to be done to increase school funds by 
state appropriation, by county and district taxation, 
and otherwise, so as to lengthen the school term of the 
State to eight or ten months. 

Of the 7565 rural white and colored schools in the 
State, nearly seventy per cent of them are still one- 
teacher schools in which seven grades of work are re- 



870 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

quired. These schools are wholly inadequate for the 
task of properly preparing country boys and girls for 
citizenship and for the other duties of country life. 
Here also much work remains to be done. By conserva- 
tive consolidation and by transportation and otherwise, 
these schools must be made into community-center 
schools, with more and better teachers and better equip- 
ment, so that they will more adequately perform the 
true mission of the country school in ministering to the 
social, intellectual, moral, industrial, and agricultural 
needs of the country community. 

With 12.3 per cent of the total white population of 
North Carolina over ten years of age, 14 per cent of the 
total white voting population, and 31.9 per cent of the 
negro population, unable to read and write, according 
to the United States census of 1910, a great task and a 
great duty confront us for the reduction and elimina- 
tion of this menacing illiteracy. 

With only seventy-six of the one hundred counties of 
the State employing whole-time superintendents and 
only sixteen counties employing assistant superintend- 
ents and supervisors for the rural schools, much re- 
mains to be done for the adequate supervision and 
direction of these schools. 

With the average monthly salary of rural white teach- 
ers in North Carolina only $40.74, and the average an- 
nual salary of the same teachers only $235.27; with the, 
average monthly salary of colored teachers only $24.69, 
and the average annual salary of the same teachers only 
$128.42, much more money is needed. Funds must be 
supplied to increase their compensation, so as to com- 
mand and retain for this most delicate and difficult 
work the type of men and women needed for it, in order 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 371 

to justify them in the long and expensive preparation 
necessary for professional and masterful teaching. 

With a total school population of 778,283 from six to 
twenty-one years of age, only 77.2 per cent of which is 
enrolled, and only about 53 per cent of which is in con- 
tinuous daily attendance in the public schools, much 
work still remains to be done. Through the enforce- 
ment, enlargement, and improvement of our compul- 
sory , attendance laws and through the cultivation of 
educational sentiment and interest, this multitude of 
children must be brought into the schools and kept there 
long enough to give them at least a mastery of the rudi- 
ments of education. 

With only 214 regularly established rural high schools, 
enrolling only 8,986 country boys and girls and only 19 
farm-life schools, there still remains great need for more 
money and more work. The number of these schools 
must be increased and the development of the work of 
those already established must be enlarged for the prep- 
aration of a larger number of country boys and girls 
for college and for life through adequate high-school 
and vocational training. 

Such are some of the hard but glorious educational 
tasks and duties that lie before our people. What a 
splendid opportunity for constructive educational work 
and development the future holds for patriotic citizens 
of the State! What a joyous privilege to every son and 
daughter of the State to have a part in such a work! 

From the evidence of our recent progress, indicating 
on the part of our people an aroused public sentiment, a 
determination to make adequate provision for the edu- 
cation of their children as rapidly as their means will 
permit, a sacrifice in time, convenience, and money. 



372 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

beautiful and sometimes touching to behold, are we not 
justified in predicting the rapid development of a public- 
school system in North Carolina that shall be adequate 
to the demands of this age of universal education and 
to the stupendous task of training for citizenship and 
service, according to their various capacities, all of her 
children white and black? 

Within the next quarter of a century or less we con- 
fidently expect to see within reasonable reach of every 
country and city child in the State a complete system of 
public education. This system will include elementary 
and high schools adequately equipped with comfortable 
houses, ample grounds, and trained teachers. The 
schools will be efficiently supervised by competent su- 
perintendents, maintained for eight or ten months in the 
year by state, county, and district taxation. Every 
child will be required to secure at home in the elemen- 
tary school a mastery, at least, of the rudiments of learn- 
ing that constitute the foundation of all education and of 
all preparation for intelligent citizenship and eSicient 
service. Every child who has the desire and capacity 
will be afforded opportunity to secure near home, in 
county and township high schools, fuller preparation 
for college or for life, through courses of study shaped 
to meet the needs and natural adaptations of all for liter- 
ary, professional, commercial, and industrial life. 

These elementary and high schools, planted in the 
rural districts within reach of the rural population, will 
become the centers of a new social, intellectual, civic, 
industrial, and agricultural life. They will be the ef- 
fective means of breaking up the isolation, the loneliness, 
and the colorlessness of rural life. They will elevate to 
a higher plane of intelligence, labor, and service the 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 373 

great masses of the country people and prevent the de- 
generation of this biggest and best part of our popula- 
tion into an Old- World peasantry. Through the dis- 
semination of intelligence and special training for their 
work, adapted to their environment, among the masses 
of the country folks, our farms will become more pro- 
ductive; our waste lands will be reclaimed; our roads 
will be improved; modern conveniences that increased 
wealth can command will be brought to the farmers' 
doors, and rural life will be made more livable. 

Such a system of schools do we foresee in the near fu- 
ture for the Old North State, extending its educational 
ladder, without a missing rung, from the doorstep of the 
humblest cottage in the remotest rural district to the 
doorway of the highest university or college of State or 
of Nation. This is the lever that shall uplift the State 
and roll it in another course. 

For such a system of schools the foundations, deep 
and broad, have been completed. Most of the construc- 
tive work still lies before us, but we shall do it in another 
generation. We must do it largely by ourselves. By 
sympathetic cooperation others can help us to help our- 
selves, but we cannot successfully engraft the work of 
others upon our foundations. An effective educational 
system must ever be an organic growth; so must ours 
grow out of our own life and heart and be shaped largely 
by our own needs and the spirit and genius of our own 
people, embodying in itself the best ideals of our past, 
but ever broadening to comprehend also the safest edu- 
cational ideals of the present and of the future in all the 
world. 

Let all who love the State and believe in the splendid 
possibilities of her children, and in her wonderful ma- 



374 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN NORTH CAROLINA 

terial resources, rally to the standard of the schools and 
labor without ceasing for their improvement until every 
child in North Carolina shall have as good a chance, 
through as good a school, as any other child in all the 
world for the highest development of every power 
within him and of every resource about him. 



INDEX 



" A. B." articles on education by, 
80. 

Academy movement, 44-62; de- 
cline of, 54. 

Academies, early, 37-43; number 
chartered from 1785 to 1825, 
49-53; curricula of, 54-56; phys- 
ical equipment of, 56; tuition 
charges in, 56, 57; salaries of 
teachers in, 56, 58; teachers in, 
58; methods of teaching in, 58, 

^ 59; jealous of the public school 
system, 150. 

Act to encourage local taxation, 
325. 

Adams, Rev. James, missionary, 
6,9. 

Adult illiteracy, 364. 

Agents of rural schools, 359, 360. 

Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege for Negroes, 322. 

Agricultural education, 257. 

Alamance County, educational 
conditions in, in 1857, 204, 205. 

Alderman, Edwin A., 321, 322. 

Alexander, Rev. Joseph, 40. 

Allen, Miss Mariah, 58. 

American education, periods of, 
138, 139. 

American Missionary Association, 
243. 

American Unitarian Association, 
242. 

Ante-bellum educational practice, 
192-211. 

Antioch College, 184, note. 

Appalachian Training School, 
339, 340, 352. 

Apprenticeship system, 12, 14-30. 

Appropriations for schools, 35, 
326, 337. 

Archibald, Rev. Robert, 41. 



Arguments against schools, 118, 
119. 

Arithmetics used before the war, 
197. 

Ashe, S. P., 79. 

.\sheboro Normal School, 259. 

Ashley. Rev. S. S., 227, 228, 239, 
251; reports of, 239/. 

Association of City School Super- 
intendents and Principals, 363. 

Association of Grammar Grade 
Teachers, 363. 

Association of High School Teach- 
ers, and Principals, 363. 

Association of Kindergarten 
Teachers, 363. 

Association of Music Teachers, 
363. 

Atlantic Educational Journal, 364, 
note. 

Attempts at readjustment (1877- 
1900), 294-328. 

Attempts to preserve the schools 
during the war, 184. 

.'Vvery, Waightstill, library of, 11. 

.4ycock, Charles B., educational 
services of, 326, 327, 333, 342, 
343, 368; and the revival, 329- 
44; inaugural message of, 329; 
philosophy of, 342, 343. 

Bacon, Alice M., quoted, 215. 

Bacon's Rebellion, 1. 

Baltimore Association of Friends, 

242. 
Baptists, 4. 

Barksdale Case, 316, 317. 
Barnard, Henry, 158, 161, 218. 
Barr, Rev. Jotm, library of, 11. 
Bath, library at, 7-9. 
Battle, Kemp P., 251, 303, note. 
Battle, Judge W. H., 257. 



376 



INDEX 



Beaufort County, p>etition from, 
81. 

Beginnings of Reconstruction, 
212-37. 

Benbury, Thomas, 45. 

Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, 1. 

Bingham, Robert, 257. 

Blackboards, 59, 60, 209. 210; 
scarce in "old field" schools, 
152. 

Blair, W. A., 364, note. 

Blake, H. B., 259. 

Blakely Gazette, 77. 

Blind, State school for, 365. 

Bray, Rev. Thomas, aided estab- 
lishment of libraries, 7. 

Brooks, Eugene C, 334, 342, 363; 
quoted, 172. 

Burgwin, John, library of, 11. 

Burke County, educational con- 
ditions in, in 1857, 200-04. 

Burrington, George, Governor, 
instructions to, 4, 5. 

Caldwell, Dr. David, library of, 
11; educational influence of, 39; 
"Log College" of, 39. 

Caldwell, Dr. Joseph, 116, 117; 
letters on education by, 120-29. 

Caldwell, Governor T. R., 251, 
257. 

Campbell. J. D., 177. 

Canby. General E. R. S., 226. 

Cape Fear Teachers' Association. 
259. 

Carolina Watchman, 144. 

Caswell, Richard, 45. 

Caswell Training School, for men- 
tal defectives, 366. 

Cathcart, William, library of, 11. 

Central North Carolina Teachers' 

• • Association, memorial of, 297. 

Charity, element of. in the school 
system. 66. 

Charlotte Democrat, 184. 

Child labor law. 347. 348. 

Chowan Precinct Court, records 
of, 21, 22. 

Church wardens, duties of, 16, 17, 
25. 



City school systems, 268, 283, 
341. 

Civil Rights Bill, 253, 254; effect 
of, in North Carolina, 255; in 
Virginia, 255, note. 

Civil War, attempts to preserve 
the schools during, 184. 

Classical schools, 38-41. 

Classics, in academies, 54-56. 

Claxton, P. P., 364, note. 

Clio's Nursery and Science Hall, 
39, 40. 

Colonial period, slow educational 
growth during, 1, 2. 

Community Service Week. 361. 

Comparison of reconstruction and 
ante-bellum conditions. 263-69. 

Compulsory education, 257. 

Compulsory school, law, 347. 

Confederate securities. 185. 

Congressional plan of Reconstruc- 
tion. 213, 220. 225, 227. 

Connor, R. D. W.. quoted, 324, 
326, 327. 330, 334. 

Consolidation of schools. 370. 

Constitutional convention (1865), 
221; (1868), 186; composition 
of, 227; committee on educa- 
tion in, 228; work of, ratified, 
229; educational provisions of, 
230; (1875), 261. 

Constitutional provision for 
schools, 81. 

Coon, Charles L., 339. 

Corn Club work. 360, 362. 

Counties released from levying 
school taxes during the war, 103. 

Counties, adopting the first school 
system, 145. 

County commencements, 361, 
and note. 

County superintendents, salaries 
of,* in 1890, 320; improvement 
in, 359. 

Course of study in 1869. 235. 

Court records of educational im- 
portance, 19, 20. 21. 22. 

Craven. Braxton, established the 
first state normal school in 
North Carolina, 171-73; educa- 



INDEX 



377 



tional philosophy of, 173; in- 
terest in educational journal- 
ism, 173, note; normal school 
work after the war, 302, and 
note, 303, note. 

Crowfield Academy, 39. 

Cullowhee Training School, 321, 
352. 

Cumberland College, 48. 

Curriculum of academies, 54>-56; 
of the early school system, l-iT; 
of the "old field" schools, 151, 
152; before the war, 192, 193. 

Curry, J. L. M., 322. 

Davidson Academy, 48. 

Davidson College, 39. 

Deaf, State school for, 365. 

Debts left by Reconstruction, 
295. 

"Declaration against Illiteracy," 
332, 333. 

Defect of the early school system, 
148. 

Dickinson, Matthew, 57. 

Difficulties in the way of educa- 
tion, 121-24. 

Doherty, W. H., 184, note. 

Drummund, William, first "gov- 
ernor of Albemarle," 2. 

Durham, Plato, 227, 228. 

East Carolina Teachers' Training 
School, 309, 340, 352. 

Edenton, library in, 9, 10; act to 
build schoolhouse in, 34, 35; 
attempts to establish a school 
in, 37. 

Edgecombe County, educational 
meeting in, 80. 

Education, under lords proprie- 
tors, 1-13; under royal rule, 
32-43; first public expenditures 
for, 36; first legislative com- 
mittee on, 69; held in low esti- 
mation, 128; of the freedmen 
advocated by Calvin H. Wilev, 
188. 

Educational Association, forma- 

^ Uon of, 176, 259. 



Educational convention, (1873), 
256, 257; (1874), 258; program 
of, 258; (1902), 331. 

Educational Journal, 180, 257. 

Educational journalism, need for, 
174, note; since the war, 364, 
note. 

Educational practice before the 
war, 192-211. 

Educational sentiment, growth 
of, 113-37; conditions in 1836, 
136; campaign of 1839, 144; in 
1840, 146;;during the Civil War, 
181, 182. 186; during Recon- 
struction, 239/.; between 1885 
and 1900, 315-28; m 1900, 330; 
in 1902, 332, 333. 

Edward VI, suppression of mon- 
asteries by, 15. 

Elizabeth, poor-relief enactments 
of, 15, 16. 

Ellendale Teachers' Institute, 
258. 

Ellis, D. L., 364, note. 

Emigration, problem of, 129, 130; 
evils of, 131. 

England, educational philosophy 
of, in the seventeenth century, 
3; boys sent to, for educational 
advantages, 32; argument of, 
against public schools, 69, note. 

English Church, encouraged in- 
tellectual growth, 5. 

English Schism Act, enforced in 
the colony, 5; reproduction of, 
5; influence of, 12. 

Enrollment, in 1914, 371. 

Equalizing fund, 346. 

Established Church, 12; and the 
Schism Act, 37. See also Eng- 
lish Church, State Church. 

European influences, 14. 

Evergreen, 174, note. 

Ezzell, J. D., 365, note. 

Fair View Collegiate Institute, 

364, note. 
Family Lyceum, 133. 
Farmers' Alliance, 322, 323. 
Farmers' Union, 362, 364. 



378 



INDEX 



Farm Life Schools, 348, 349, 356, 

357, 358. 
Fayetteville, memorial by citizens 

of, 135. 
First public school law, 96, 140-44. 
Fiske, Rev. F. A., 243, 277. 
Flinn, Andrew, 58. 
Fourteenth Amendment, 226. 
Free school, bill to establish, 35. 
Free-school idea, growth of, 84-85. 
Freedmen, education of, 242, 243. 
Freedmen's Bureau, work of, 243; 

mistakes of, 243, 265. 
Freedmen's Commission, 243. 
French, John R., 227. 
Friends, Baltimore Association of, 

242; education work of, 244, 245. 

See Quakers. 
Friends' Freedmen's Aid Associa- 
tion, 243. 
Fusion Legislature of 1895, 323, 324. 
Future of the schools, outlook for, 

368-74. 

General statements concerning 
education in the South, 212-14. 

Geography, methods of teaching, 
69; late in entering the curricu- 
lum, 197; textbooks in, used 
before the war, 197-98. 

Germans, educational influence of, 
38. 

Gordon, Rev. William, mission- 
ary, 9. 

Graded schools, early movement 
for, 183; 313, 323. 

Graham, John W., 227, 229, 232. 

Graham, Joseph, library of, 12. 

Graham, William A., 94. 

Grammar, early textbooks on, 
198, 199; variety of texts before 
the war, 199. 

Grant, Major H. L., 227. 

Granville Hall, 45. 

Greensboro Patriot, 188, note. 

Griffin, Charles, first professional 
teacher in North Carolina, 6. 

Hall, Dr. James, library of, 11; 
school of, 39, 40. 



Harrell, Eugene, 364, note. 

Harris, Robert, 302. 

Hart, Albert Bushnell, quoted, 216. 

Haywood, John, 80. 

Heath, Robert, charter to, 8. 

Heitman, J. F., 364, note. 

Henry VHI, suppression of mon- 
asteries by, 15. 

Hill, Charles A., plan for a school 
fund, 79, 82. 

Hill, J. A., resolution of, 78. 

History, late in entering the cur- 
riculum, 199, 200; textbooks on, 
before the war, 199, 200. 

Hodgson, John, library of, 11. 

Holden, W. W., 221, 226, 230, 
231, 249, 261. 

Holmes, Gabriel, interest in agri- 
cultural education, 77. 

"Home geography," 198. 

"Home-Makers' Clubs," 360. 

Hood, Rev. J. W., assistant super- 
intendent of schools, 244, 245. 

Hooper, William, library of, 11. 

Howard, General Oliver O., quot- 
ed, 216. 

Howell, Logan D., 364, note. 

Illiteracy, 341, 342, 370; "De- 
claration against," 332, 333. 

Immigration encouraged, 1, 2; 
slight, before 1728, 2. 

Indians, schools for, 353, and note; 
normal school for, 353. 

Influence of Reconstruction on 
education, 263-69. 

Innes, James, library of, 11; will 
of, 46, 47. 

Innes Academy, in Wilmington, 
46, 47. 

Institutes, 322, 323. 

Internal improvements, commit- 
tee on, in 1833, 130; slow prog- 
ress of, 132. 

Iredell, James, library of, 11. 

Jarvis, Thomas J., 249, 304, 305, 
308, 310, 334, 335; quoted, 304, 
305, 308, 334, 335; excerpt from 
will of, 310. 



INDEX 



379 



Jeanes Fund, 350. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 343. 

Johnston, Samuel, library of, 10, 
11. 

Johnston, Gabriel, library of, 10, 
11; message of 33, 34; Assem- 
bly's reply to, 34, 35. 

Jones, Willie, library of, 11. 

Joyner, James Y., 333, 334, 342, 
360, 361, 368, note; quoted, 
108, 336, 337, 360, 361; chapter 
by, 368-74. 

Journal of Education, aided by the 
Peabody Board, 286, 287. 

Kenney, Charles R., plan of, for 

schools, 115. 
Ker, Rev. David, 57; his school 

near Fayetteville, 41. 
Kindergarten work, beginnings of, 

303, note. 

Lack of qualified teachers, 126, 
127. 

Laflin, General Byron, 227. 

Lancaster, Joseph, 73; school sys- 
tem of, 60, 61. 

Lancaster ian schools, 73; method 
of, 75. 

Land values, decrease of, 129. 

Latin Grammar School, 44. 

Law, first, of educational impor- 
tance in the colony, 36, 37; first, 
for public schools, 96, 140-44; 
of 1809 compared with ante- 
bellum legislation, 236; of 1869, 
provisions of, 234-36. 

Laws, first printed collection of, 
32. 

Lay readers, the first teachers in 
the colony, 3. 

Legislative appropriations, made 
but not paid, 241, 242. 

Legislature, expense of, 117, note; 
of 1868, composition of, 231. 

Letter against schools, 118, 119. 

Lexington Normal School, 259. 

Liberty Hall Academy, 41, 45, 48. 

Libraries, early, 7-12; circulating, 
12; in academies, 56. 



Library associations, need for, 
165, 174, note. 

Liquors, import duty on, for edu- 
cation, 37. 

Literary Board, report of, in 1838, 
96. 

Literary Fund, created, 65, 88; 
84-112; sources of, 88; early 
growth of, 89, 90; idle and un- 
productive, 90; poorly managed 
91, 92; increased by surplus 
revenue, 93; first appropria- 
tions from, 97, 98; income of 
and disbursements from, 98; 
threatened by the war, 101, 102; 
effort to protect during the war, 
102, 103, 104; losses of, 100, 
101, 104, 105; not used for war 
purposes, 185; condition of, in 
1869, 105; provision for, in 1868, 
105; in 1876, 105, 106; from 
1870 to 1903, 106, 107; reor- 
ganization of, in 1903, 107-08; 
operation of, since 1903, 108- 
10; schoolhouses built by, 108- 
10; income from, small, 246. 

Local taxation, beginning of, 97; 
first in the State, 145; in 1859, 
180; in 1860, 186; act to en- 
courage, 325. 

"Log College" of Dr. Caldwell, 
39. 

Log schoolhouses, in 1914, 351. 

Lord Bishop of London, license of, 
required of teachers, 4, 5. 

Lords proprietors, education un- 
der, 1-13; charters to, provided 
for State Church, 3. 

Lottery, privilege of, allowed, 45. 

Maclaine, Archibald, library of, 11. 
Mann, Horace, 158, 161, 184, note, 

'188, 218. 
Maps, used in academies, 55, 56. 
Marshall, W. F., 363. 
Martin Academy, 48. 
Martin, William, bill by, 76. 
Mashburn, early teacher, 7. 
Masses, attempts at educational 
improvement of, 33-37. 



S80 



INDEX 



Material equipment of the schools 
before the war, 200. 

Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 41. 

Memorial of citizens of Fayette- 
ville, 135; of the Central North 
Carolina Teachers' Association, 
297, 298; of the State Teachers' 
Association, 305, 306. 

Mental defectives, school for, 366. 

Merrimon, A. S., 254, 257. 

Methods of education, discussed, 
125-29. 

Methods of teaching, in acade- 
mies, 58, 59, 60; in "old field" 
schools, 152. 

Military governments supersede 
State Governments, 226. 

Mixed-school question, 231, 232, 
234, 253. 

Monasteries, suppression of, by 
Henry VIII and Edward VI, 15. 

Moonlight schools, 365, and note. 

Moral defectives, school for, 366. 

Mordecai, Jacob, 59. 

Morse's Geography, 198. 

Moseley, Edward, library of, 9, 
10. 

Murphey, Archibald D., 59, 69, 
82, 368; report of, and plan for 
schools, 70-74. 

McAden, Rev. Hugh, early teach- 
er, 38. 

McCorkle, Rev. Samuel C, and 
Zion Parnassus, 40. 

Mclver, Alexander, 251, 254. 

Mclver, Charles D., 321, 322, 331, 
333, 334, 335, 336, 342, 368. 

McPheeters, Rev. Dr., 58. 

McQueen, Hugh, bUl by, 115, 134. 
135. 

Nash, Abner, 45. 

National Teachers' Association 
in 1865, 213. 

Needs of the present school sys- 
tem, 368-74. 

Negroes, tax on, for schools pro- 
posed, 35; in Constitutional 
Convention of 1868, 227; during 



Reconstruction, 238; provi- 
sions for education of, 265; 
schools for, aided by Peabody 
Board, 281, 282, 284, 285, 286, 
287; normal schools for, 312; 
normal instruction of, 323, 352, 
353; agricultural and mechani- 
cal college for, 353; supervision 
of elementary schools of, 360. 

Newbern, private school, in, 36; 
school chartered in, 37. 

Newbern Spectator, 145. 

New England Freedmen's Relief 
Association, 242. 

News and Observer, 361, note. 

New York National Freedmen's 
Relief Association, 242, 243. 

Noisy schools, 203. 

Normal College, 171, 172, 173. 

Normal schools, 257; established, 
in 1877, 261, 262; work of. 300- 
02; established in, 1881, 312; 
for negroes, 339, 353. 

Normal school work, beginnings 
of, 171-73; 184, note; 258, 259. 
321; at Trinity College. 302. 

North Carolina Day, 338. 361. 
and note. 

North Carolina Education, 354, 
362, 363. 

North Carolina Educational Asso- 
ciation, 103. 

North Carolina Educational Jour- 
nal, 364, note. 

North Carolina High School Bulle- 
tin, 363. 

North Carolina Journal of Educa- 
tion, establishment of, 177, 178, 
187, 364, note. 

North Carolina, law of 1715, 23, 
30; of 1755, 25, 26, 29, 30; of 
1760, 26, 27; of 1762, 26, 28, 
30, and note; of 1764, 27; of 
1777, 28; influence of its ante- 
bellum schools, 63, 64; constitu- 
tional provisions for schools, 64. 

North Carolina Reader, 188. 

North Carolina Teacher, 364, note. 

North Carolina Teachers' Assem- 
bly, 362, 363. 



INDEX 



381 



North Carolina Teachers' Asso- 
ciation, 30i. 

"Old Blue-Back" speller, 194, 
195. 

" Old Field," article by, criticizing 
the policy of the Legislature, 
133. 

"Old field" schools, description 
of, 150, 151, 152; jealous of the 
public-school system, 150; teach- 
ers in, 150, 151; curriculum of, 
151, 152; methods of teaching 
in, 152. 

Olney's Geography, 198. 

One-teacher schools, 369. 

Orange County Sunday-School 
Union, petition from, 81. 

Outside educational agencies dur- 
ing Reconstruction, 242, 243. 

Oxford Mercury, 159. 

" Psedophilus," letter by, 119, 120. 

Pattillo, Rev. Henry, library of, 
12, 45, 46. 

Peabody Board, work of, 215, 242, 
253; opposed to mixed schools, 
254, 255; 261, 262, 301, 302, 
341. 

Peabody Fund, 48; work of, 271- 
92; creation of, 272; States aid- 
ed by, 276; amounts distrib- 

, uted from, in the South, 277; 
towns aided by, in North 
Carolina, 279, 280, 281, 282, 
284, 285, 286, 287, 288; results 
of, 289-92. 

Peabody, George, 271, 273. 

Peabody Normal College, 48, 289. 

Peabody Rural Supervision Fund, 
360. 

Peabody School of Education, 
352. 

Peabody Trustees, 272; plan of, 
272, 273, 274. 

Pegram, William H., 303, note. 

Pensions, for teachers, 365, note. 

Perquimans Precinct Court, rec- 
ords of, 19, 20, 21. 

Pestalozzi, 73. 



Physical equipment of academies, 
56. 

Pinewoods Teachers' Institute, 
259. 

Poe, Clarence, quoted, 324, 326, 
327, 330, 334. 

Pollock, Mrs. Louise, 303, note. 

Pollock, Miss Susie, 303, note. 

Pool, Stephen D., 260, 364, note. 

Poor, duties of overseers of, 16, 17; 
authority transferred to over- 
seers of, 28; plan for the educa- 
tion of, 73-74; education of, 
proposed, 79-80. 

Poor-law and apprenticeship sys- 
tem, 12, 14-31. 

Poplar Tent Academy, 41. 

Population of North Carolina, 2, 
32, 116, 129. 

Presbyterian General Assembly, 
243. 

Presbyterians, influence of, 32, 
38-40. 

Present needs of the schools, 868- 
74. 

Present school system, 345-67. 

Presidential plan of Reconstruc- 
tion, 220, 226. 

Primers, used before the war, 
195. 

Princeton College, influence of, 11, 
32, 38, 58. 

Printing-press, first in the colony, 
32. 

Program of educational conven- 
tion in 1874, 258. 

Progress of education in 1858, 178; 
between 1885 and 1900, 315- 
28. 

Protestant Episcopal Ch\u"ch, 243. 

Providence Academy, 41. 

Prussian school system, admired 
by Wiley, 189. 

Public education, beginnings of, 
138-57. 

Qualifications of teachers before 

the war, 200. 
Quakers, interest in education, 6, 

38. See Friends. 



S82 



INDEX 



Queen's College, first institution 
chartered by the State, 40, 41. 
Queen's Museum, 40, 41. 

Race riots, 324. 

Rainsford, Rev. Giles, mission- 
ary, 7, 9. 

Raleigh Mutual Aid Society, 365, 
note. 

Raleigh Register, 80, 118, 119, 
145. 

Raleigh Sentinel, 227. 

Raleigh Standard, 184. 

Raleigh Star, 134, 144. 

Reading books used before the 
war, 196. 

" Rebel question," 226. 

Rebellion, Bacon's, 1. 

Recent educational progress, 349- 
52. 

Reconstruction, beginnings of, 
212-37; congressional plan of, 
213, 220, 225, 227; presidential 
plan of, 220, 226; benefits of, 

I 267, 268 ; education during, 238- 
70; overthrow of, 261; evils of, 
266, 267; influence of, on edu- 
cation, 263, 269. 

Reed, Rev. James, sermon on 
education by, 36. 

Reform Legislature of 1870, 316; 
composition of, 249. 

Reid, James, 251. 

Religious dissensions, unfavorable 
to educational growth, 2, 3. 

Rigsbee vs. the town of Durham, 
319. 

Riots, in Wilmington, 324. 

Royal rule, education under, 32- 
42. 

Ruffner, Henry, 299, note. 

Rural elementary education, prog- 
ress in, 340, 341. 

Rural high schools, 340, 354r-59. 

Rural libraries, 337. 

Rural secondary education, 354- 
59. 

Rural schools, agents for, 359, 
360. 

Ruiherfordton Gazette, 145. 



Salaries of teachers, 370, 371; in 
academies, 56-58. 

Salaryji'of state superintendent re- 
duced, 249. 

Salisbury high school, 40. 

Scarborough, John C, 261, 304, 
305, note, 310, note. 

Schism Act, 5, 12, 37, 41. 

Schoolbooks recommended by 
Wiley, 194. 

School fund proposed, 69, 79, 
81. 

School funds, influence of, 85; 
purposes of, 85-86; in other 
States, 88; poorly managed, 98, 
99, 100, 101. j 

Schoolhouses, 56. 

Schoolmasters, scarcity of, 32; 
occupation of, scorned, 128. 

School population, 371. 

School statistics (1857), 174, 175; 
(1858), 179, 180; (1860), 181; 
(1869), 241, 242; (1870), 245; 
(1872), 251, 252; (1873), 255, 
256; (1874), 260; (1884), 313, 
314, 315; (1914), 350-52; 163, 
164, 165, 168, 303, 304. 

School system, introduction of, in 
1839, 146, 147. 

School taxes, authority for, 262. 

School Teacher, 364, note. 

Science Hall and Clio's Nursery, 
39, 40, 45. 

Scotch and Scotch-Irish, influence 
of, 11; immigration of, 37, 38. 

Sears, Rev. B., 253, 254, 262; 
made general agent of the Pea- 
body Fund, 273; 277, 279. 

Separate schools, discussion of, 
228, 229, 231. 

Shepp, Edwin S., 364, note. 

Sickles, General David E., 226. 

Silent schools, 203. 

Simmons, W. G., 257. 

Slater Fund, 353, 360. 

Slaves, increase of, 129. 

Smith Academy, 46. 

Social and economic conditions, 
129-32. 

Society for the Propagation of the 



INDEX 



383 



Gospel in Foreign Parts, 6-10, 

36. 
Soldiers' Memorial Society of 

Boston, 242. 
Southern Educator, 364, note. 
Southern Education Board, 331, 

336, 341. 
Southern education, loose state- 
ments concerning, 212-14. 
Southern Index, 173, note. 
Southern South, quoted from, 216. 
Southern Weekly Post, 160. 
"Spelling-bees," 195. 
Spelling-books, before the war, 

194, 195. 
State Association of County 

Superintendents, 339, 363. 
State Church, 3. See English 

Church, Established Church. 
State Literary Fund, 338, 339. 
State Literary and Historical 

Association, 338. 
State Normal and Industrial Col- 
lege, 322, 336, 352. 
State School for the Blind, 365. 
State School for the Deaf, 365. 
State superintendent of public 

instruction, office abolished, 

189, 190, 223, 224. 
State Teachers' Association, 166, 

180; memorial of, 305. 
Stevens, Thaddeus, 218, 226. 
Stonewall Jackson Training 

School, 366. 
Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church, 

40, 41. 
Sumner, Charles, 283. 
Sunday-School Union of Orange 

County, petition of, 81. 
Superintendent, provision for of- 
fice of, 156; duties of, 156; office 

of, abolished, 189, 190, 223, 224. 
Supervision, lack of, before the 

war, 155. 
Supervisors, of rural elementary 

schools, 341. 
Supreme court decisions, 246, 

249, 316-19. 
Surplus revenue, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 

136. 



Tate, Rev. James, 39. 

Tate's Academy, 39. 

Taxation, fear of, 65; beginnings 
of, local, 97; hostility to, 113; 
authority for, 262; for school 
purposes, 308. 

Taylor, Rev. Ebenezer, mission- 
ary, 9. 

Teacher-training, 352, 353. 

Teachers' institutes, first in the 
State, 184, and note; held in 
1872, 252; in 1874, 258, 259. 

Teachers' Reading Circle, work 
of, 341. 

Teachers, scarcity of, 2, 3, 245; 
required to be licensed by Lord 
Bishop of London, 4, 5; in 
academies, salaries of, 56-58; 
movement to organize associa- 
tion of, 119, 120; description of, 
126, 127; exempted from cer- 
tain duties, 148; in the "old 
field" schools, 150, 151; com- 
parison of salaries of, 170, note; 
180, note; 370, 371; aided by, 
the Peabody Fund, 282, 284, 
286, 287; present condition of, 
369. 

Teaching, methods of, in acade- 
mies, 58, 59. 

Term, present length of school, 
369. 

Textbooks before the war, 193- 
200; lack of uniformity of, 193; 
distributed through the Pea- 
body Board, 245, 257, 277, 278; 
in Virginia, 194, note. 

The American Universal Geogra- 
phy (Morse), 198. 

"The Educational Duties of the 
Hour," 213. 

The North Carolina Institute of 
Education formed, 120. 

Thyatira Circulating Library, 
11. 

Tomato Club work, 360, 262. 

Tomlinson, J. F., 364, note. 

Tomlinson, Thomas, private 
school of, 36; assistance solicited 
for, 36. 



384 



INDEX 



Toon, Thomas F., 330, 333. 

Tourgee, Albion W., 227. 

Transportation of pupils, 370. 

Trinity College, 173; normal 
school work at after the war, 
302; School of Education of, 
352. 

Tuition, in academies, 56, 57. 

Tutorial instruction, for the well- 
to-do, 12. 

Uniformity of textbooks, lack of, 
before the war, 193; urged by 
Wiley, 193. 

Union Institute, 171, 172. 

Union County, educational con- 
ditions in, in 1857, 205, 206. 

University of North Carolina, 
chartered, 64, 65. 

University of Nashville, 48. 

University School of Education, 
352. 

Urmstone, Rev. John, mission- 
ary, 8. 

Vance, Governor, 104, 184, 297, 
298, 300, 302. 

Vaughan, George, ofiFer of, to aid 
education of Indians, 35. 

Vestry Act, of 1701, 3; of 1715. 3; 
of 1764, 27, 28; of 1777, 28. 

Virginia, educational conditions 
in, in 1857, 154; influence of, on 
North Carolina, 16, 18, 29; law 
of, 1743, 17, 19, 24; of 1705, 24; 
of 1748, 24, 29; Literary Fund 
of, 69, note; plan for education 
in, in 1817, 75; textbooks in, 
194, note. 

Vogell, Rev. H. C, 279. 

Walker, John M., report of, 70. 



Walker, N. W., 354, note; quoted, 
258, 359, 363, 

Wallis, Rev. James, 41. 

Warren, E. J., 249. 

Washington College, 48. 

Welker, Rev. G. W., 232, 251. 

Wentworth, educational rally at, 
334, 335. 

Western Carolinian, 78, 80. 

Western North Carolina Journal 
of Education, 364, note. 

Wiley, Calvin H., first superinten- 
dent of public instruction, 63, 
101, 102, 104, 146, 148, 150, 155, 
159, 223, 246, 257, 277, 368; ap- 
pointed superintendent, 156; ed- 
ucational revival under, 158 _^.; 
early work for the schools, 
161/.; school reports of, 163/.; 
diflaculties confronting, 165/.; 
educational philosophy of, 187; ' 
value of his reports, 187; ad- 
vocated the education of the 
freedmen, 188; textbooks by, 
188; proposed for superinten- 
dent in 1872 and 1876, 190; gen- 
eral agent of the American 
Bible Society, 190. 

Wilkes County, first educational 
meeting in, 207-09. 

Winwright, James, will of, 47, 48. 

Wise, Governor of Virginia, 154, 
155. 

Woman's Betterment Association, 
336. 

Women teachers, scarcity of, 165. 

Worth, Jonathan, 226. 

Wright, Robert H., 363. 

Yancey, Bartlett, 82. 
Zion, Parnassus, 40. 



